


The Silence of the Psycho

by TheEmpressAR



Category: Bates Motel (2013), The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Genre: Dominance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mind Control, Power Play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-07-22 16:19:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 37,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7445731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEmpressAR/pseuds/TheEmpressAR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU/Crossover with Norman Bates meeting the revered Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Hannibal coming face to face with a potential worthy adversary in the form of Norman's psychosis....His 'Mother'.</p><p>This somewhat follows a cannon timeline but not always.  It is set around season 4 of Bates Motel and before Silence of the Lambs...er I guess Red Dragon if you want to get technical.  Dr. Lecter is free and in the heyday of his own personal demons and Will Graham is just beginning to get under his skin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Transfer Part 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [solveariddle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/solveariddle/gifts).



> I am going to try my very best to stay true to all characters. Dr. Lecter will be menacing and sinister and deliciously evil and Norman will be manipulated and will bend to his will...for now. It will hopefully leave you guessing...as with myself...who has the more brilliantly disturbed mind...and who will win in this battle for dominance. 
> 
> I am by no means a psychologist or know a lot of the technical terms nor am I trying to diagnose or solve any of Norman's problems...or Dr. Lecter's for that matter. This is a work of fiction and I am just trying to hopefully get something entertaining on the paper and out of my own troubled brain. I would LOVE to see this as a movie some day written by much better hands and brains than my own addled one. I hope you all enjoy!

Dr. Gregg Edwards hung up the call. He sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers. He took a moment to consider what he had just done and for the good of the patient that he had done it for. He scribbled a few notes in his book and decided he would go and discuss his recommendations with the patient whose interests he was always looking out for. It could really go either way with how receptive he was going to be. After all, there would be a few drastic changes that might harm his beloved patient more than help him. But he was at his wits end and he was in way too deep with this one. He needed more professional help. He needed more guidance than he was able to give. He didn't want to do wrong by this one. He needed to make sure that he could do everything in his power to make sure everything was right.

  
Dr. Edwards tapped on the door to room two in the juvenile hall wing of the Pineview Institute in White Pine Bay, Oregon. Inside he knew the patient would not be sleeping well. He hadn't since his arrival there almost three weeks ago. Lately, it had become tenser because the patient knew that his mother had recently gotten married and was highly agitated because of this knowledge. Dr. Edwards hesitated at the door making sure that he knew how he was going to approach the subject of what had inevitably resorted from the behaviors of the occupant within.

  
The past few weeks had been some of the most gut-wrenching, emotionally charged, quite frankly painful moments to witness in his career as a psychotherapist. The frequent outbursts, the rage, the anger the helplessness was only the top of the iceberg in the complexity of the patient. Breaking out of the hospital, destroying hospital property and threatening staff and fellow inmates was beyond the normal behavior of any of the patients within Pineview's halls. He had seen several instances in others, but never within the same patient and within this short amount of time. And then there were the sessions.

  
On more than one occasion, Dr. Edwards felt that he was way in over his head. When the first hint of the split came forward in one particularly stressful session between the pair, It was all Dr. Edwards could do to not leave the room and get as far away as possible. This was a very troubled young man. He remained calm, and if not thoroughly convinced, remained open to the possibility that what was happening was real. By the end of the session, Dr. Edwards knew that he was in trouble. This was the stuff only read about in textbooks and thesis and papers and literary works. This was not supposed to be presented to his face in a small out of the way facility where rich people stuck their unruly children when they needed a break from them. This was a real problem, and it was beyond him to solve it.

  
He had been reading a particularly interesting paper on psychopathy and sociopathy in Criminology and at what age symptoms begin to arise in the minds of human subjects as opposed to other primates and related species. He noted that a lot of the created symptoms were manifested in his current patient and that he was almost 100% on track with his diagnosis. What he wanted to know most was how to treat the symptoms before they progressed into something worse. How to rid the patient of the germ that had implanted itself deep within his psyche and to make him, once again a functioning member of society. He noted that the paper was authored, published and authenticated in Baltimore, Maryland at the Johns Hopkins Medical Center. And the author was one Dr. Hannibal Lecter.  
...

  
"Come in." A quiet voice said from the interior of the small room, no bigger than a prison cell.

  
Dr. Edwards entered the room and looked at the occupant sitting upright on the small cot. His hands were folded in his lap, his hair tousled slightly from sleep. His shirt was wrinkled and his blanket around his waist. On either side of him was a railing with thick straps attached with a strong velcro buckle. He rubbed a hand over his eyes, wiping the remaining sleep from them, rubbed his wrists at the lingering sensation of being shackled and gave the doctor a quizzical look . He wasn't supposed to see him until later this afternoon.

  
Dr. Edwards took a seat at the foot of the bed, scooting it forward so that he was close enough to project his calming presence. He wasn't overly fond of what news he had to share, but he wanted to be the one to deliver it. He wanted to be the one to guide him through the transition of what was to come.

  
"Good morning, Norman. How did you sleep?"

  
"How do you think I slept, Doctor?" Norman said, brandishing his red-ringed wrists in the doctor's direction.

  
"I'm sorry, Norman, but you know that was a necessity after the incident you had last night. I had Nurse Penny take them off of you when you finally fell asleep."

  
Norman leveled his eyes at Dr. Edwards and scoffed. "One would think that this would be detrimental to my well-being and would inhibit my rehabilitation because I've been unable to express my feelings properly."

  
"Norman....Dr. Edwards sighed. "When you destroy your room and break hospital property and throw your dinner tray at the staff, I don't see how that is considered beneficial to your recovery from anyone's viewpoint. You have got to learn to control your emotions in a public setting."

  
"She married him, Doctor!" Norman said color coming into his cheeks. The dizzying effects of the medication were starting to wear off and he was beginning to re-feel the flood of emotions that threatened to overtake him the night before. "She married that bastard and now HE has her...they have me here and they can go on with their happy little lives and I'm conveniently put away! I can't and I WON'T stand idly by and watch it happen!"

  
"Norman...calm down. I want you to breathe. Please...this is not what I'm here to discuss with you right now. I want you to bring this to our session this afternoon. I know you are hurting badly because of the situation you are in right now, and I want to help you. But I can't help you until you can assure me that you're going to remain calm. Can you please help me by doing that?"

  
Norman's tears were already welling in his eyes, threatening to spill over but he listened to the doctor's soothing tones and even flow of his words and gradually came back down to a calmer state. Nurse Penny had looked into the room at the rising commotion but Dr. Edwards had motioned her away with a finger to his lips. She turned and went back to her station.

  
Norman played with his bedspread, picking and fingering the edges, finding a loose thread and plucking it with his fingers. He willed his mind to calm and steady itself, trying hard to push out the thoughts of what he knew reality to be for him now. He also didn't want to run the risk of another blackout. He was having them frequently and they always left him feeling like real shit the next day. He looked back at the doctor when he was calm enough to listen and folded his arms over his chest. "I'm fine now."

  
"That's good to hear, Norman." Dr. Edwards said smiling at him he put a hand on Norman's knee and patted it. "Norman...I wanted to ask you what you felt about something, about maybe an opportunity for you to step away from this situation, these surroundings and get some real in-depth therapy and treatment for your blackouts."

  
"I...I thought that's what we were doing here, Dr. Edwards..." Norman said hesitantly,worry beginning to creep into the corners of his brain.

  
"Oh, we are...we are doing things here in our sessions, but truthfully, Norman. I don't think I have the capacity to help you to the extent that you need to be helped. I am not turning you away. I am offering you a better opportunity to get you well." Dr. Edwards looked at Norman seriously with real compassion in his soulful brown eyes. "I want you to be free from your blackouts, Norman. I want you to be better."

  
"Well...what does that entail, Doctor?" Norman asked unwilling to trust this man completely. Sure he had been a great listener, and sure he had probably seen things that he should never have been exposed to and yes he kept Norman's secrets, but he still didn't trust the man, he was too far gone to trust anyone.

  
"Well, Norman..." Dr. Edwards paused. Here was the difficult part. "It would involve you leaving PineView...leaving White Pine Bay....leaving your mother for a long, long time.

 


	2. The Devil's Den

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little aside with the 'Good Doctor'...

_'Pleased to meet you...Hope you guess my name...But what's puzzling you...Is the nature of my game...' Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones_

 

_"Case study number 107. Subject Name: Norman Bates. Subject Age: 18 Subject psychosis per medical diagnosis (undetermined): Dissociative Identity Disorder formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder with lingering Oedipal tendencies and sociopathic tolerances."_

Dr. Hannibal Lecter stopped the mini recording device and smiled ruefully to himself. "Sounds charming..."

He continued to pour over the "facts" in the tiny file that had been sent to him via FedEX this morning and with his cup of fine Italian Cappuccino began to pick apart what meager little offerings the file contained within. He sat in front of a large mahogany desk with an enormous picture window behind him. The sun was just beginning to peek over the treetops and was warming his cold skin. He kept it unearthly chilled in the spacious cottage where he lived and attended to his patients. Some of them had called him reptilian, but he preferred to be more likened to a feline who doted on sunning himself in the rays that penetrated the otherwise tenebrous atmosphere of his sanctuary.

He had an impressive collection of wall to wall books adorning the majority of the room and dark maroon tapestries to match the burgundy rugs with intricate designs enriching the hardwood floors. His office furniture was of vermillion leather of the finest quality, so soft to the touch, that his patients often wanted to spend more than the allotted hour with him, just to remain lying on his couch. He picked up another file that was similarly sent to him the day before. Norman Bates' criminal record. 

Since Norman was 18 and was legally no longer considered a juvenile by the state, Dr. Lecter was easily able to obtain permission to have the file released to him for consideration of taking the patient on. He switched the recorder back on and put down his tiny, delicate cup. 

_"Patient has had several altercations/brushes with law enforcement within the past three years, in which he was implicated to take partial if not full responsibility of his culpability. The death of his high school teacher, one Blaire Watson, of which he was acquitted, A high school classmate, one Bradley Martin, who was assumed to have taken her own life, another high school classmate's father which was determined to be an accident. There are other incidents where deaths had taken place on the property where he and his mother conduct their line of business in the motel industry and several more where they are associated with individuals who have died in unusual circumstances."_

Lecter paused again. "Death seems to follow you where ever you go, Mr. Bates." He tsk-tsked under his breath. "Are you simply a misunderstood lad or do you know exactly what it is you are doing and loving it?"

Lecter was left with his thoughts as he filed his facts away in his memory palace to pick apart more thoroughly as he slept. He put the files at the corner of his desk and stretched cat-like and stood before his full-length mirror. His black silk pajamas caught the sun rays and picked up hints and flecks and glints of gold piping throughout. Lecter loved the feel against his skin. He was an attractive aging man in his late forties, slightly balding with piercing blue eyes that seemed to reach right into your soul when he looked at you and shred you to pieces with a single wink. He loved to preen in front of the mirror as the sun, his goddess, shone the light and the dark sides of him. He worshiped the sun on his face as the wheels began to turn slowly in his head. 

He didn't normally, if ever, take any pro bono cases or recommended cases from out of state. He was often traveling circles with the rich and elite of Baltimore, handling peoples' neurosis with lots of cash backing them up. He lived almost like royalty on the backs of other peoples' ailments all with the promise that he was to be the most notarized and well-respected psychiatrist of his time. He had authored many well-documented papers and texts and had penned the forwards in numerous others. His waiting list to become a patient of his was nearly a mile long. 

He was never unseen out in society, lavishing the attention he received when he arrived at many of the gala events hosted often by the elected officials of the city. He wined and dined same said officials often regaling them with tales from his homeland and filling their stomachs with some of the finest cuisine often prepared by himself. He smiled inwardly at the thought of his cooking. Truthfully he had made a few of his own acquaintances disappear under 'unusual circumstances', and the wry smile touched his lips. 

There was something unique and different about the case he had before him now. Not often did he see troubled young men with this amount of tragedy that befell their lives. They often either moved on past their afflictions and began healthy relationships and started their adult lives leaving the past behind or were receptive to the therapy for improvement. He thought back to the current physician's notations and recalled that Mr. Bates' strong connection with his mother had often hindered him from partaking in normal teen behaviors and activities. He had seen that Dr. Gregg Edwards notes indicated that in most all of the sessions that he had had with the patient that the subject's mother's name...Norma Bates...Dr. Lecter did not let slip the fact that they even shared similar names, and he wondered what other similarities they shared....was brought up in each and every one of the 22 sessions that he had held with the patient since his admittance to PineView Institute. 

He noted that the patient was unruly at times, unable to be reasoned with, and at the mention of his mother would almost fly into a blind rage to defend or rebuke her. There was also a mention of blackouts which he assumed was the basis for the DID.  What Dr. Lecter did not know was if it was merely a cry for attention for his mommy's love or a more deep rooted problem. 

Lecter pattered, barefoot across the room to the doorway and clicked off the light leaving the room in total darkness. The stuffed owl which perched, wings expanded, in a high corner of the opposite side of the room glared menacingly at him through the shadows. He flashed his eyes back at it and smiled. 

"This is going to be goooood." He drawled.


	3. Transfer - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Edwards needs a signature...will his patient cooperate?

_"Let me speak to my mother, Sheriff."_

  
_"Alex....Your mother isn't here actually, she's in town."_

  
_"Let me speak to my mother....Alex."_

  
_"I'll tell her you called, Norman."_

  
_Norman stood by the phone holding the receiver in mid-air as he listened to the dial tone. His knuckles were white against the handle. His other hand was clenched into a tight fist._

At 4 p.m. Norman was perched anxiously on the couch in Dr. Edward's office. He had paced the floors for a few minutes, wondering what was keeping the man. At 4:05 p.m.,  Dr. Edwards came into his office looking a bit frazzled. His normally calm, cool facade was slightly off kilter. A few random files were sticking out from under his arm and he held a coffee cup in the same hand, a bit of brown liquid sloshing over the edge as he tried to balance his briefcase in the other. He quickly deposited his things on his desk and straightened his tie. He turned to face an agitated, albeit curious Norman Bates who was by now fidgeting on the couch impatiently waiting to speak.

  
"Hi...Norman." Dr. Edwards said with a tired sigh. "I'm sorry, I'm just a bit late for our appointment. I was speaking to the Johns Hopkins facility on your behalf and they assure me a transfer can be made ready as soon as you agree to be treated by Dr. Lecter. I've not had the opportunity to speak directly to Dr. Lecter, but I was informed that the doctor is pleased to take on your unique case."

  
"No...no...please stop, Dr. Edwards," Norman said near shaking. "I never agreed that I would participate in this transfer or even be seen, by this man...this "Dr. Lecter"...I said that I would discuss it with you when I met with you today. I haven't even spoken to my mother. I need to talk to her. I NEED to see her." Norman's vein was starting to protrude from his neck.

  
"Calm down, Norman." Dr. Edwards said raising his hand to stop the flow of panicked words. He had taken his usual seat across from Norman and was preparing himself with all the pros and very little cons with why this was the best decision for Norman to make. "I don't want you to run the risk of another blackout happening. We need to be able to discuss this matter rationally, and calmly. Now tell me why...you think...this would not be a good decision for you to make." Dr. Edwards leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers placing his index fingers against his lips in a thoughtful pose.

  
Norman leapt from the couch and began to pace again. "Gee...I don't know....doctor...." He said gesturing wildly with his hand. "To leave my home...my surroundings.....her? What are you asking me to do here? I'm needed here. I can get better here. I don't know anything about this other doctor, or what he's like or what he would do to me when I got there. I have a life here. I have responsibilities. I have the want to get better. How can you give up on me after we have accomplished so much? Yes...I know...before you say it. I was put back here. My own brother and her husband signed the committal papers saying the didn't feel safe around me. THEY NEVER GAVE ME A CHANCE! I was barely home and I was EXPECTED to think everything was just fine and dandy...one big happy family. It's not easy you know."

  
Norman stopped at the window and looked out into the grey-skyed afternoon across the fields to the gates of PineView. He had almost succeeded in proving to his mother he could be fine without the need for staying in this place. He had convinced her that he would take the medications and see Dr. Edwards on a regular basis. It wasn't for the lack of trying, he did all of those things.

  
_"You need to grow up a little right now and think of your mother...You need to think of her as a human being...don't you think she wants to be with someone...a partner...a friend...a lover...someone she can share her life with....don't you think she deserves to have a man in her life..."_

_"....you know what you have to do._ " 

Norman shook his head hard clearing his thoughts. He couldn't stop the tears no matter how hard he tried.

  
"Talk to me, Norman...what else?" Dr. Edwards said patiently. He had the patience of Job and he really cared for Norman like a son that he wished he had. He hated to see him so helpless and dejected.

"It's just....why? Why did this have to happen? I am alone now...I'm on the outside looking in. There's something wrong with me. I've always known it. I tried doing something about it. She wouldn't let me! She left me here to punish me. Who will pick up MY pieces?" Norman traced a hairline crack in the window pane as he rested his head against the glass. His mind was a mess. Even on the medications, they had been giving him he still couldn't wrap his mind around all of his present situations and what purpose his life held for him now. His mother...HIS mother....now had a "man" in her life. She didn't need him. No one needed him.

  
Dr. Edwards stood up and crossed the room to where Norman was standing. He put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it gently. "I know, son...I know." He led Norman back to the couch and sat him down. He took his seat and pushed it closer to the fragile, broken young man. "You only need a little guidance, a little push in the right direction. You know what's really best for you. This is a chance for you to start over! A way for you to clear your head and get to be the man you were meant to be! Look at where you are...you don't belong here either, and that's a good thing. You're not addled in your brain, and you're too intelligent to be doped up all the time and if left to your vices you would become as destructive and as desperate as Julian.

You deserve so much better than that, Norman Bates. If your mother can start over with a new life, why can't you? You're eighteen years old, you no longer need her apron strings and you should be the bird flying out of his mother's nest to start his own life. Do you think you would make her proud by being the man she wants you to be?"

  
" _....but she needs me._ " A small voice...getting quieter all the time.

  
"I need you." The disembodied voice said from the seat beside him. Norman looked next to him and saw the mother there. He hesitated only slightly. He hadn't seen her in a long time.

  
"I'm not leaving you, mother." He said to the empty air.

  
Dr. Edwards looked at Norman and leaned back in his chair. He probably pushed too far and too fast. He was somewhat expecting this. He looked at the wall clock. It had just turned 4:30 and he needed to get Norman to give him a positive decision by the time their session was over. Maybe he had the time to convince...her.

  
"Is she here, Norman?"

  
"Yes, but something is wrong with her."

  
"It's most likely the medication."

  
"She seems very weak. She's fragile and frail. What's wrong with her, Doctor?"

  
"It's ok, Norman. Do you need me to speak with her?"

  
Pause... "What do you want with me, you bastard?"

  
"Why the hostility, Mrs. Bates?"

  
"Look what you've done to me....LOOK AT ME!"

  
Norman stared outside of his body at the mother who appeared to be very pale with sunken, darkened eyes, with an energy she could barely muster up to speak let alone shout. Her hair was lank and her eyes were red-rimmed from what looked like crying, or a very bad cold. He reached out a hand to her but felt nothing. He wasn't there. She was.

  
The Mother crossed her legs demure and ladylike as ever and stared the doctor down with cold hard eyes. She produced a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped at her nose. When she looked down there was blood, crimson red against the white cloth.

  
"Mrs. Bates. I'm sorry you are unwell. But that only means that Norman is getting better. Things are working for him. If you are his protector, don't you think you should protect him more by stepping aside and letting him get the help he needs? He wants to do this. He will never lose the bond he has with you, but you need to rest, take a vacation, have a little peace and disappear for a while. Don't you think that's what's best for Norman?"

  
"How...dare....you..." The Mother coughed hard. "If I had the strength I once had, you would be a stain on the carpet right now. I would kill you if I had the chance. Do you hear me?"

  
"As it is, the way I see it, Madame, I think you need to allow Norman to breathe and make some decisions on his own now. You're dangerous for him...and you're killing him by staying."

  
The Mother phased in and out...a look of death on her face before Norman reappeared and crumpled to the floor. Dr. Edwards was immediately at his side tapping his buzzer for assistance. The orderly on duty came in and Dr. Edwards asked him to help Norman back to his room. Norman was cold, clammy and sweating. His eyes were rolled in the back of his head and he was fading into unconsciousness.

  
The papers for Norman's transfer sat on Dr. Edward's desk. Dr. Hannibal Lecter's profile and approval for the transfer was attached. All that was needed was a signature.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Needs lots of Norman cuddling...my poor boy. HUGS him!


	4. Make your move.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Night Terrors and Revelations.

Norman sat upright in his bed in his assigned room. He stared blankly into the darkness. It had been hours since he was back to himself and he didn't quite know if he had fully returned. He saw in his mind's eye, shadows of people moving about the room, coming in to check his vitals, see if he would talk or eat. He could do neither. It mattered not to him. He didn't even flinch as the needle was inserted. The intravenous fluids to keep him sustained dripped steadily down the tube and into his arm.

It had always been an odd feeling to him, to be outside of his body and not knowing when or how it happened. He knew he wouldn't even remember it happening after it did. He was only told by his mother and those close enough to him that actually witnessed it. All he had was this time now.

He wasn't alone. He saw her again. Along the outskirts, around the edges. She was afraid. She wasn't coming to him, the way she always had in the past.

"Mother..." He whispered to her. "Please let me see you..."

He had always known his "mother" to be a strong, confident, woman who was unafraid of anything, and was there to help him in his darkest times. She was there for him through all of the difficult times in his life where no one would understand what was going on with him, except her. He had only recently learned through Dr. Edwards that she was another part of him and not his real mother. He still had a hard time believing if she was real or not. She felt real to him. He still wanted to believe.

"I...I can't....I can't let you see me this way," a disembodied voice from the shadows weakly replied.

"Please, mother....I've missed you. I've been so alone and so afraid here. Dr. Edwards wants to take me away from you. He wants you to leave me. Who will protect me when you're gone? Can you not come with me, mother? I need you." Norman spoke without words into the shadows moving in the corner of his room. His voice sounded high-pitched and almost a wail as he regressed back into a little child of only six years old. This was when he needed his Mommy desperately to take away the bad dreams and hold his hand through it all.

"Norman, my darling...." she said in her saddest voice. She emerged from the shadows and stepped into the circle of light surrounding his bed. A bony, skeletal hand reached out to put itself on top of Norman's small chubby, cherub-like one. He recoiled in terror. The hand he drew back was his own, long slender fingers, cold death's touch upon them. She came to sit beside him on the bed.

Norman took her in gradually. What had they done to her? What had he allowed them to do to her? Bits of her flesh were hanging from her sallow cheeks, maggots worming their way through the tendons and muscles there and her eyes were liquid and jelly-filled, blue irises filling up the white parts, not eyes at all, just the remnants of them. Her mouth was pulled back into a permanent grin of rotting teeth. All that was really her was her blonde hair with the blue headband supporting it to her head. She still wore the same white and blue flower printed dress that told him that this was the person she once was and still clung to the essence of her being. It hung in all the wrong places on her wraith body. She was no longer healthy looking and it took her every effort to make the slightest movements. Tears leaked from the eye sockets around the goo and dripped to the clean white bedsheets. She looked away from him.

"Norman....why did you let them do this to me?" She could only speak in the air around them. Her lips were no longer there to move the words.

"I'm so...so sorry mother. I had no idea...."

"LOOK AT ME!" The words she had screamed at Dr. Edwards several hours earlier.  Her anger and hate allowed her to muster up the energy she needed to get her son's attention.  It faded as quickly as it rose.  She would be nothing in a few days if this continued. She felt her existence disappearing....and she finally was ready to accept.

"What can I do...what can I do to help you, Mother?" Norman said near desperate. He needed to do everything and anything to take her pain away.

"You have to fix this, Norman. You have to make me strong again. I can't take care of you. I can't do anything for you when I'm like this. I can't even think straight when they do what they do to you. When they give you those drugs to take me away. Every time you take that medication it's like someone stabbing me repeatedly...in my heart....in my soul....You want me to die.....you WANT THIS!"

Norman cried out and reached for her, pulling her "corpse"  close to his body and hugged her as hard as he dared to. She hung limply in his arms and he sobbed into her neck.

"Don't leave me...Please...I'm so sorry...I didn't want to...I didn't...Please....I'm so sorry..." He repeated his mantra, until he felt her warm breath on his cheek, her hand in his hair. She pulled back.

There was his mother once again. Strong and sure. Beautiful and confident. All smiles and knowing smirks....her red lipsticked lips smiling widely showing pearly white teeth. "You need to go to see the new doctor, Norman. You need to find a way to get away from here, as fast as you can. Sign the papers in the morning. I'm always with you and I will be there with you leave this place. Whatever you do don't let Dr. Lecter put you on medication. You can fool him into thinking you're better and you're well. You know I will help you to do that. As long as you do this for me. I won't let anyone hurt you, Norman. You know if they did, I would kill'em. I just need you to promise me that you'll get us away from here!!"

Norman held her warm body in his arms and smelled the fragrance that was uniquely his mother's her skin, her body, just as she was when she admitted to killing his teacher, the love shining in her eyes, for her son. She rubbed her nose against his and patted his hair once more.

"I have to leave....promise me, Norman....." She rose from the bed and started moving back into the shadows."Promise me.....you know what you have to do." her voice faded and then she was gone.

Norman stared after her and placed his hands over his heart. Her smell was still in the room, sweet and all the remembrances of home with the faintest odor of death lingering as a final warning.

"I will, Mother...," He said as he lay down on his bed and covered himself up. He rolled over to one side and finally came back to himself. His head was throbbing terribly as an unkind welcome back to his reality and he grabbed both sides of it. He moaned in agony as the sharp pains stabbed at his temples and rang for the night nurse. "I will...."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't done so yet, please check out this video on Youtube. It is AMAZING! It is a fine piece of vidding work done by mmecherry and you will NOT be disappointed...Go show some love at his channel and comment and like!!!
> 
> https://youtu.be/KvmQNLDiVg4
> 
> Short chapter for tonight but I needed to keep the muse stimulated! I hope you all like the little morbidity inserted here..mmmuwuuhhahaaaa! Let me know what you think in the comments!


	5. Coming Unhinged.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Norma is not pleased....

"Hi..yes...this is Norma Bates, I'd like to speak to my son, Norman Bates please."

  
"Yes...one moment, Mrs. Bates.

  
Norma waited somewhat impatiently on the line, twisting her fingers around the phone cord nervously. It had been some time since she had talked to her son. She had been busy with a myriad of other things that had taken over her life as of late.

  
Her beautiful stained glass window in the foyer had recently been destroyed by someone with a vendetta out against her husband. Alex had given her some sort of excuse and if she had enough time to replay it in her head she might have figured out that it had to do with something personal. They had a lot of loose ends hanging free for the both of them when they decided to marry. Norma knew she would be taking on a lot of his extra baggage. But, she concluded, she was willing to do that for anyone that had her and her son's best interests in mind. If he did this for her, she could accept a few 'hiccups' in the living arrangements.

  
Then there was Chick Hogan the man who offered to fix it for her. That guy was ten ways to 'Creep-Town'. She didn't know what to make of the man but he was not someone she wanted to get to know. He had recently said something to her that didn't sit well. She wanted him to be done with the project as soon as possible so that she wouldn't have to get involved with his enigmatic traps.

  
She had also decided that she wanted to make some improvements to the hotel and her home. Ever since becoming the new "Mrs. Sheriff", as she was affectionately bestowed the title by her husband, a new breath of life had been blown into her, blowing off the dust and cobwebs of drama that had been enclosing and trapping her heart. She felt like a new woman. She felt like everything needed a make over and that, of course, took lots of her time from her. Often she would work late into the night without even glancing at a clock. There were times when she intended with all of her heart to contact her son. To make sure he was fine. To make sure that things were ok between them and that he was getting well.

  
Norma recollected that as of late Alex had kept her distracted to the point that she had even, if briefly, forgotten about her son altogether. She shook her head at the mere thought of that but as she stood at the phone a wave of guilt washed over her. 'How long had it been?' She wished right then and there to hear the sound of her son's voice. At that moment it was the most important thing in the world to her. She felt the beginnings of a tear burn the corner of her eye as she sighed in frustration.

It seems there was always something to do with Alex. She had to attend a lot of functions in town. She had to be seen places with him, even silly things like ribbon cuttings on the openings of new buildings in town. She had made mention to him that she wanted to do home improvements and then tried to dismiss the whole thing because she knew the motel was going under. He showed her the stash he had hid away in her house, courtesy of Bob Paris and thus began the total home makeover. He had showered her with all kinds of funds for the purpose of transforming the house and making it better than it was before the break-in. Norma smiled at the thought of all the hard work she had put into the process already. She did love him so very much.

  
Before she had become too distracted in her daydreams, the receptionist came back on the line.

  
"Norman Bates, did you say?"

  
"Yes....," Norma said her frustration coming through the phone. 'What was going on here?' "N..O..R..."

  
"Yes, Mrs. Bates...I understand," The receptionist replied stiffly. "Your son is no longer at our facility."

  
Norma stared at the phone's dial-pad in disbelief. Had she heard correctly? Her mouth hung open for a good 30 seconds before replying. "I'm sorry. Could you please repeat that?"

  
"Norman Bates is no longer a patient at this facility. He was transferred the day before yesterday." The receptionist made a noise in her throat like she needed to hurry and end the call, as if she couldn't be bothered with more details.

  
"I'm sorry....," Norma said seeing nothing but red in her vision. "Can you tell me exactly WHO authorized the decision for my SON to be transferred from your facility? Because I sure as SHIT did not make that decision. I KNOW you are not going to tell me that I did. I want to know who did this and why it wasn't cleared with me first!!" Norma began to almost hyperventilate over the phone.

  
"Mrs. Bates, if you will calm yourself, I will be happy to refer you to Dr. Edwards and he can explain the situation to you. I cannot tell you anything further than I already have."

  
"WELL LET ME SPEAK TO DOCTOR EDWARDS!!!" Norma was now beyond a level of extreme "not" calmness that would take a lot of talking her down from. How dare this little bit of nothing tell HER to calm down. This was her SON! He would have told her EVERYTHING he was doing no matter what was going on. There had better be more of a damn explanation than "calm down".

  
"Mrs. Bates....unfortunately, Dr. Edwards has accompanied Norman to his transfer facility and will not be back for some time. This is a special situation for him and he has taken it upon himself to clear his patient schedule and calendar to handle this personally. I'm sure you will understand and I will definitely make sure that he contacts you upon his return." Ginny replied always professional no matter what the situation called for.

  
Norma was seething inside. How could this have happened. "I want to speak to Vicki Monroe, immediately!" She was not going to hang up until she got an explanation...any explanation. She pretty much despised the snobby coordinator of the institute, but with the rage that was boiling over inside of her at the moment, she just had only one thought blazing through her brain...'OFF WITH THEIR HEADS'!!!

  
"Mrssss... Batessss..." false sincerity dripping with condescension.

"Yes...Ms. Monroe...always a pleasure...I was wondering if you could tell me...what the FUCK did you do with my son?" Her words shared just the same dripping venom as the coordinator.

  
"I'm sure I do not care for your tone and words, Mrs. Bates." Vicki said taken aback. "We at PineView strive for complete disclosure of our patients wishes and recommendations by our competent staff..."

  
"Listen you snotty little bitch...I didn't ask for ANY of that...I just want to know what you did with my son. I left him in your care so that he could get the treatment he needed at YOUR facility. Not to be transferred without my permission and without the permission of my husband who had him committed to your institution for his own health and safety. Should you not have at least cleared this with him? I know he would have told me of what was happening. So again, I ask you where is my son?"

Vicki waited for Norma to get it all out of her system as it were. She let the line remain silent until she heard nothing but panting on the other end. "Mrs. Bates...the decision to transfer your son fell upon the cooperation of a number of individuals, one of them being your son. He is over the age of 18 and he decided for himself that this was something he agreed to without coercion. Dr. Edwards has recommended this move for Norman's continued treatment and care and the final individual to agree to the transfer to a facility where they are more equipped to handle your son's particular needs, was your husband. He was down here personally to sign the necessary forms."

  
Silence still greeted Vicki's words as she continued to speak. "Now, Mrs. Bates....I'm sorry...I mean...Mrs. Romero, if you will please excuse me, I have other business to attend to. Thank you for calling, I do hope we can speak again."

  
Norma stood with the phone clutched in her hand. Her knuckles had turned an unhealthy shade of white. An almost inaudible snap, like a twig breaking, resonated through her brain. Her eyes had gone complete glacier as she let out an unearthly scream.


	6. Planes, trains and a considerable distance from home...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm sorry I was having a flashback"  
> "These flashbacks happen often?"  
> "Increasingly...today." - Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... (Isn't little Freddie Highmore the cutiest little thing in this? You just want to pinch his cheeks...SQUEE)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We flashback and forward in this chapter. I hope I conveyed Norman's angst, just-so!

Norman looked out the tiny porthole-sized window of the airplane as it flew above the clouds. He had not been on many plane rides in his lifetime. He was a little nervous but not afraid. He didn't know when he would get the opportunity again. It felt freeing from his point of view. Like all he had to do was reach outside this window and he would fly. He leaned over and tried to get a glimpse of the ground below. It was all multicolored patches of greens and browns. Beautiful countryside.

A small smile played at the corner of his lips. In the reflection of the glass, he caught a brief glimpse of his mother's face. It was stern and angry, cold blue eyes staring into his soul. He shook his head clearing the image from his brain. It was only the hundredth time he thought of her today and the thousandth of the last few days. He looked back out the window and was reminded of the Twilight Zone episode where something was on the wing of the plane. It was a silly notion but he glanced at the wing just to be certain. It was a beautiful sunny day, not the middle of the night and not a drop of rain in sight. He breathed in slowly and out just as slowly and tried not to work himself up.

  
Dr. Edwards was observing Norman from the seat beside him. He watched the array of emotions cross his features and he laid a cautious hand on his knee.

"Are you alright, Norman?"

"I...I'm fine, Dr. Edwards, thank you."

"Do you want to talk about what you're feeling right now?"

Norman exhaled slowly. He looked at Dr. Edwards with tears in his eyes.

"Why am I doing this, Doctor?"

"Norman...sometimes we need to step outside of our comfort zone. We sometimes need to take a different path than the one that may have been rigidly drawn out for us, create our own ways and follow them. You would never know what was outside of White Pine Bay if you didn't take this chance." Dr. Edwards smiled softly at Norman.

"But I wanted to do that with her," Norman said as the tear dropped from his lashes and cascaded down his cheek. "I wanted her to be with me every step along the way. Why does this hurt so much?"

  
Dr. Edwards patted his knee. "Dr. Lecter will help you, Norman, to get through all of this, trust him. He has helped many people with your similar story and from what I know of him, he's quite proficient in his success. Now, why don't you close your eyes and try to get some rest? It's still a few hours before we reach Maryland." He handed Norman his handkerchief and Norman thanked him and dried his eyes. "You've had so much happen to you lately, Norman...just rest assured you know you're doing the right thing."

  
Norman leaned back and closed his eyes to the helplessness of the situation. He felt as hollow as the day he did when Dr. Edwards rescued him from the strip club and he poured his heart out to him. Such a draining weight on his shoulders. He tried to sleep but all he saw before him was his mother's disappointed face. ' _How could you do this to me...I loved you...'_

  
Norman didn't dream, instead, he recalled the last couple of days as they played out again in front of him. He prepared to sign the papers for his release from PineView but was stopped by Dr. Edwards with the information that he would have to have one of the people who had formally committed him sign the release papers as well. It was part of the policy and procedures of the Institution and the law for the state. He was no longer a voluntary patient, so they had to get the permission and the notary public stamp. He asked for his brother, Dylan to come and to sign the papers since he was one of the two 'traitors' that had put him back there. He hadn't spoken to his brother since, even though Dylan had tried to apologize and explain the reasons he did what he did. He had tried many times to get Norman to see him and talk to him. Once he came to his room, but Norman was so angry he threw everything in his reach at his brother and had jumped him ready to attack him. He had to be restrained by the orderlies and the last thing he remembered was his brother with tears in his wide eyes, repeatedly telling him that he was sorry and that he would always be his brother.

"GET OUT OF MY LIFE...!!!" He screamed.

  
Norman shifted in the plane's seat and tried to put it out of his head. But the memories kept playing like an old movie splotchy and burnt out in parts but enough to be focussed in his mind. When they had tried to contact Dylan, he had already left the state. He had gone with Emma to Washington to be with her as she recuperated. They let him speak to him but what was there really to say? After a few minutes of silence, he just told his brother goodbye and that he wished Emma nothing but happiness and good health.

  
He wanted to call his mother and have her do it. She was his mother and she had the overriding authority in the event that the other two were unable to sign him out. He had asked Dr. Edwards and he said that he preferred that she did. He wanted to tell her goodbye. He needed to tell her goodbye. He needed to see her. Smell her hair. Remember her fragrance. Remember her smile, the light in her eyes. He actually dialed the number. It rang. It rang. It rang. No answer. He held onto the phone for dear life, waiting for the anchor to answer and tell him that he didn't have to do this. That they could face things together. Get through all of this together. He didn't need some stranger doctor who knew nothing about him to solve his problems. He needed his mother. He remembered the answering machine kicking in after the fifth ring. Norman grimaced in his sleep.

  
_'You have reached the home of Norma and Alex Romero. We aren't here right now. We are out doing honeymooner things_. (a giggle in the background) _If you want to reach us, please leave your name and number and maybe we'll call you back.'_ (another giggle and scuffle of someone dropping the phone and a surprised laugh that cut off into silence and then the beep)

  
Norman had decided at that moment that he was ready to do what he needed to do. There was going to be no changing of her mind. He had pled his case at the dinner table the night before he was committed. He told her that nothing would come between them. She _was_ a hypocrite for dropping him to be with someone that didn't matter to her as much as he did. He was so frustrated and angry and so utterly helpless to the situation. He wanted her to see. To see _him_. For once in his miserable existence see him and what she was doing to him. He only wanted to be happy with her. This wasn't jealousy. This was complete and utter sadness at the loss, at the loss he had given everyone and everything else up for. He had driven himself crazy for her. She had done this to him in every sense of the word and he stood there and let her do it again, justifying herself by saying there was more room in her heart than just for him. It boggled his mind.

  
That had left him with the one and only other option he had. He wouldn't bother her anymore. It was his parting gift to her. For her happiness, he was always thinking of. What other way to secure that happiness with the real man she loved.... _don't you think she deserves to have a man in her life_...than to have him be the one to give him over? To take him out of the picture? To seal the deal to their happiness? He could barely look the man in the eye. He had seen what he did with his mother...to his mother....and it disgusted him.

  
Norman had no in-between emotions it was always 'full volume' no matter what the situation was. Extreme happiness, rarely, extreme anguish, often and extreme hatred, always, for one particular individual that had made his life hell since moving there; his stomach twisted in knots, he had only felt that way about one other person and it was another one that had essentially ruined the person his mother should have become. Her brother, Caleb. Again, his mother never ceased to amaze him. He was forgiven, he was in their house in their life and Norman was again on the outside looking in.

  
He remembered dialing the sheriff's office and asking to speak to him, on the off chance that he was actually at work. He was patched through and the soft-spoken tone of Sheriff Romero was in his ear.

_"Romero, here."_

  
_"Uh...Hi....Sheriff."_

_"Norman...we've been through this before...you can call me, Alex."_

Norman gritted his teeth... _"Alright...hi...Alex."_

_"There, that wasn't so tough. What's going on? Your mother should be at home. Did you try calling her?"_

_"I did...Alex. She wasn't there."_

_"Oh...I see...well what can I help you with?"_

Norman had to bite his lip pretty hard to restrain himself from saying what he had wanted to. Romero had _helped_ enough as far as he was concerned. There was nothing else that he wanted from the man, and if he did this last thing for him it would only prove that he had again helped him into his own personal hell.

 _"I need a favor from you,"_ Norman spoke hesitantly, still building the nerve to go through with all of this.

_"Anything, Norman, within reason...you know that."_

_"I need you to come to Pineview and sign some transfer papers to have me moved to another facility."_ Norman choked out most of his words...it got easier as he continued but it was still hard to get the words out of his mouth.

 _"What are you talking about, Norman...what's wrong with Pineview? It's a good facility and your mother would be upset if you left her here."_ Romero was genuinely concerned.

_"I've thought about it, Alex...and it's the right thing to do. I just need to go. I need to get away from here for a while and I was told that I could get the help I need...I just need your permission."_

_"Well...Norman...where is this place? Is it somewhere close? Why didn't you tell your mother....?"_

_"I TRIED TO TELL HER..."_ Norman said cutting him off. He controlled himself and spoke again. _"I've tried to tell her. She's never around."_ He said the word 'never' filled with suggestion as to Romero knowing why she was never around. _"I need you to do this for me. I will be going to Baltimore..."_

 _"Baltimore...as in Baltimore, Maryland? As in across the United States?"_ Norman could swear he almost heard the smile in his voice.

_"Yes...and it needs to be done soon. I have been accepted by my psychiatrist there and he wants to start my therapy immediately."_

_"Alright, Norman. I think this a very grown-up young man decision you've made."_

Norman rolled his eyes and looked at his watch. The orderly was signaling he needed to be off of the phone.

A day later, Sheriff Romero was in Dr. Edward's office with Norman. Norman was standing in the shadows as Romero leaned over the desk and signed the papers. He stood up and looked at Norman in the eyes studying him. _"You will tell her, right?_ " He said leveling his serious brown eyes on Norman's resigned blue ones.

_"Of course, I will."_

_"I'm counting on you to do the correct thing, son. I won't say anything until you've told her, but you need to tell her soon before you leave here. She needs to see you."_

Norman cringed at the word, _son_. Anything to get him out of the door and away from his life...he agreed. _"Yes...I won't leave until I've told her."_

_"She loves you, I know that she does. She goes to sleep every night looking at your picture. I see so much love in her eyes for you. You will never disappoint her, Norman. Know that."_

_"Good-bye, Sher....I mean Alex. Thank you for doing this. You don't know how much it means to me."_ He shook Romero's hand but refused to hug him when Alex opened his arms. Romero nodded and looked at Dr. Edwards. He shook hands and left the room.

Norman woke to Dr. Edwards shaking him gently on the shoulder. Tears had been eeking their way down his eyes and pooling at his chin. He startled slightly and sat up in his chair, brushing them away.

"Where...where are we?" He said groggily noting that the sun had almost gone down and it was dusk. The plane seemed to be descending gradually.

"We're here, Norman." Dr. Edwards said calmly. "In about another five minutes." Norman looked again out of the porthole window of the plane. He could see nothing but shadows and the lights from the runway below. He glanced at his reflection in the glass and saw himself and behind him, Dr. Edwards stretching. He looked back to himself and saw the image shift between himself and his mother. She had a grim resolution about her and when it shifted back to Norman's face, his resolve was just as grim.


	7. Stressed Out - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A storm is brewing. It has to get worse before it gets better....if it ever will.

 

It was around 7pm when the taxi arrived at the Baltimore Inn and Suites a few blocks away from the Johns Hopkins Medical Institute. Dr. Edwards had reserved adjoining rooms for the night, as the appointment with Dr. Lecter was scheduled at 10 am the following morning. Norman stretched his long legs out of the cab and went to the trunk. He was exhausted from the day's events and was looking forward to actually getting some real rest. The weight on his shoulders from the past couple of weeks hadn't lessened now that he was on this new adventure. In fact, it felt about 30 lbs heavier and he could barely drag himself to the front desk, carrying his bags with him.

  
Dr. Edwards trailed behind after paying the cab fare and grabbing his own luggage. He kept a close watch on Norman. He had played over in his mind the many scenarios that could take place in this journey. He was aware that he was traveling with Norman alone. This went against the wishes of a lot of the staff at Pineview and a few of his fellow colleagues he had made aware of his travel plans. Of course, no one wanted to mention the word 'insane' especially in his line of work, but they couldn't help but wonder if that's indeed what the doctor had become.

  
He reassured himself with his backup plan tucked safely away in his overnight bag, but in the meanwhile, he had hoped that his natural calming presence would be able to break Norman out of any dangerous thoughts he may experience until he was safely in the care of the noted psychiatrist. At any time, he knew Norman could try and make a break for it, escape and get lost in this big, unknown city. If that was the case, what could Dr. Edwards do but let him go and become another creature of the night? He had no doubt that Norman, was not that irresponsible with his life. He genuinely believed that Norman wanted to get help so that he could return to a normal lifestyle and live the life of a young man with normal goals.

  
He noted that Norman looked pretty much dead on his feet. His hair was tousled, his shirt untucked and slightly wrinkled. He allowed Norman to wear his own street clothes as to not draw too much undo attention towards him or Dr. Edwards. He wasn't quite sure how the hospital he was going to would allow their patients to dress or be monitored. He hoped that they would treat Norman just as fair.  
Norman waited patiently at the concierge counter as Dr. Edwards confirmed the reservation and got the hotel keys. He studied the surroundings and felt a pang of sad emotions at being in another hospitality setting. He thought back to his own motel, and that if he hadn't screwed things up so royally, he would be there now, running it and being as happy as he felt he was allowed to be. He knew he couldn't truly be happy in the current situation, but at least he could have made more of an effort. Maybe one day it would be meant to be.

  
He thought of his mother again. Sitting in front of her dresser in her bedroom. Dressed in her blue silk robe. The curve of her breast visible when she bent down to pick something up. The lighting in the room picking up the highlights of her hair, the depths of her blue eyes. Norman teared at the thought of her face. She was so far away from him now. He gripped the handle of his suitcase as hard as he could to block out the sight of her, beautiful and at her most vulnerable. He flashed to the moments of them in bed, him snuggled deep into her, it was the most peace he had ever known. Dr. Edwards placed a hesitant hand on Norman's shoulder as to not startle him in his deep reverie.

  
"Let's go, Norman. The elevator is over here." Dr. Edwards began walking to the end of the hall.

  
Norman bit his lip and followed the doctor to the elevator. He tried to leave the ghost of his mother behind but everywhere he went, she was sure to follow. He needed to talk to her. He needed to hear the sound of her voice. Just one more time.

  
"Now, Norman, I know we've discussed this. But I want to make sure that we are clear on a few ground rules. I am going to put my trust in you. Are you going to make me regret my decision?" Dr. Edwards looked at Norman as they rode up together in the elevator. Norman was pressed against the back wall his hands in his pockets, his head against the wall. He looked back at the doctor and gave a worn out smile.

  
"The only thing I want to do right now is go to sleep. I don't have the energy for anything else. " He assured him.

  
"Good, Norman, because I feel the same right about now. You know if you need me I will be a door away. I got us two rooms with an inner door, in case anything should...happen. Just a formality you know."

  
"I understand, Doctor."

  
"Well, you have the privacy of your room to do however you wish. If you want to watch some television or make a phone call, you have my permission to do that, however, I would suggest you keep it brief, you have a busy day ahead of you tomorrow. I want you to remember to take your medication before you go to sleep, you understand?"

  
"Yes, doctor. Everything will be fine."

  
"Goodnight, Norman." Dr. Edwards said sliding his card key into the lock. He made sure Norman entered his own and went into the room. He shut his door behind him and set his bags down. He walked over to the adjoining suite door and tapped on it. "Are you ok, in there, Norman?" he asked, raising his voice. A muffled reply in the affirmative greeted him. It wasn't totally sound proof, so that was comforting. Dr. Edwards turned back to his room and began to prepare for the night.

  
Norman took in his surroundings, in a slow turn. It was a very nice room that had probably cost Pineview a good bit of money. There was all the amenities of a nice 4-star hotel at least, and he walked forward to deposit his bags on the very large king-sized bed. It looked so comfortable and he thought back to the beds he had had in his lifetime. Nothing so grand as what was before him now. He could get lost in that bed. His mind flittered to Bradley Martin for only a moment. He had gotten lost in her bed too. He shook himself and hugged his arms around his body. He couldn't allow himself a moment of that kind of reflection when he felt as miserable as he did. He thought of where she might have been if things had been different. He missed Juno. He had left her in his room and hadn't been visited by her at all since he was committed. He let his mind wander as he opened his suitcase and began laying out his pajamas.

  
He padded over to the bathroom, flicked on the lights and peeked inside. It was luxurious. A sunken tub and full-sized shower. A warming cabinet for hot towels and a pantry with extra linens. He went to the large mirror overlooking the double sinks encased in black marble and staring back at him was a pale, scrawny little boy with deep circles under his red-rimmed eyes. He gripped the sides of the sink and studied his reflection. He hadn't felt this low since his suicide attempt. It would be so easy to try again. He could down his whole bottle of medication and be gone by the morning. He could drown himself in the large tub beside him. Who would miss him? He shook his head again. It was unproductive to think these destructive thoughts. He was here to get better and he wanted to try for her...

  
He looked back out of the bathroom and saw the bedside phone illuminated by the lamplight a beacon of hope for his weary travels. He desperately sought the solace of his mother's voice. He trembled at the thought of hearing her, he swore he could hear her then, urging him to pick up the phone and talk to her, her desperation crossing the many miles to take refuge in his heart.

  
His hand hesitated briefly over the phone before picking it up and dialing the long distance number to the Bates Motel, in White Pine Bay. He quickly calculated that they were 3 hours behind him and it would be somewhere around 4 pm. His mother should still be in the motel and without the help of himself or Emma she should be answering the phones by herself. He swallowed hard. It shouldn't be this difficult. He knew his mother like the back of his hand. He had lived all his life with her. She was no stranger to him. So why did she feel so different now? Maybe he just didn't want to get disappointed, again. He couldn't take another letdown. She rarely visited, she barely called, and it felt like she had let him go. Would she welcome him back, when all was said and done?

"Hello...Bates Motel, Norma Bates speaking, how may I help you?" bright and cheerful voice on the other end of the line. Norman listened for any hint of sadness betraying her act of professional phone courtesy. He paused almost to hear the sound of her breathing on the other end of the phone. His voice caught in the back of his throat.

"Hello?" Slight tone of concern in her voice.

"Mother...." A disconsolate voice...almost a whisper. He pressed his forehead against the door frame and held onto the phone for dear life.

"Norman?....NORMAN??!!" Norma's voice cracked and she lost all resolve in an instant. "Norman...where are you? Are you ok? What's going on? What's happening? Are you ok??" A slew of questions tumbled from her mouth.

Norman smirked a quirk of his mouth. Nothing had changed. Here was his mother. The same over-the-top "worry mode" that she would always have when it came to him. She was his mother first and foremost. Nothing would ever change that.

"Mother...I'm ok," Norman said cutting her off mid-sentence hoping to stop the incessant flow. His heart was already lightened with the elixir of her words working their way into his veins.

"Norman...I'm so sorry...so very sorry I couldn't get to you before they took you away! I wanted to kill those bastards at the institute. They should have NEVER let you leave there without my permission. No one knows you the way I do. I would not have let them let you go! You know that Norman. You know I'm lost here without you!" She didn't cease in her frantic flow and Norman could begin to hear the beginning of hysterics.

"Shh...Mother...it's ok...I'm ok....I'm fine.....don't worry...please, everything is fine here....It's something I wanted to do."

Norma paused. Her breath hitched in her throat. "What did you say?"

"I said it's something I wanted to do."

  
"You wanted to leave me?"

  
"No...Mother...I didn't want to leave you. I never wanted to leave you. I can barely breathe without you here beside me."

  
"Then what did you want to do to me?"

  
"Mother...please don't be unreasonable. You know I couldn't stay there. You know I would have died if I had stayed any longer at that place and then in your house when your _husband_ stands between us." Norman said plaintively.

  
"Norman...don't tell me not to be unreasonable. I'm not the one that got you into your situation in the first place!! You wouldn't be anywhere near a hospital if you didn't start going off the deep end, blaming me for murders I didn't commit and coming at me with a GUN...NORMAN!!"

  
"MOTHER...STOP! You know I was over stressed and not in a good place. I just didn't know WHAT to do and you weren't making it any easier on me." Norman tried to speak in hushed tones but he was becoming agitated.

  
"NORMAN you threatened to KILL ME! I wouldn't know WHAT was going to happen if Alex wasn't there to stop you....you SCARED ME NORMAN....I'm STILL SCARED OF YOU!!!

  
"But...mom..., Norman said almost reverting back into a small child...."you love me....please....please stop talking like this."

  
"You know what...no one listens to me anymore...huh? What about me? You know I go day by day here just trying to make a better life for us all...I just wanted a piece of happiness....I just wanted you both to get along...apparently, that was TOO MUCH TO ASK...One of you runs away and the other one pushes you out the door...NO ONE CARES ABOUT MY FEELINGS!!!"

  
Norma was screaming into the phone like a banshee. She was beyond reason and Norman had begun to rock himself in place...He just wanted to escape...somewhere in the back of his mind...somewhere away from all of this.

  
"Norman...I hope you're happy....you know that? You know what...I think you're right...I think we do deserve to be apart from each other. I think you do need this time to re-evaluate what our relationship to each other is. I thought you would have known in your heart of hearts that no one would ever replace you no matter what happens in our lives. But now you're gone...YOU left me...YOU CHOSE THIS...You ran away from ME!" Norma slammed down the phone and the once ringing in his ear was now a deafening silence of finality.


	8. Stressed Out Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We all go a little mad sometimes." Norma/n at his/her best...or worst? Dr. Edwards should have thought twice!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Went a little off the deep end on this one...but this is where the road took me today. I hope I didn't scare anyone...too badly...OH WELL!! It was a tough chapter to write only because I'm suffering caffeine withdraws. Well...maybe it wasn't so hard...after all *smiles*
> 
>  
> 
> Ok...here's a little something to lighten the mood...you might need a laugh after this!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NplbbxngdkY&index=21&list=PLvbVOXNVZddpyzjAKzJGqiJGDQa1anIHr

"Let me OUT!!" The voice screamed from deep within him. 

She stood before him. Before his hand gripping the phone. She was herself but still....not. She was not death warmed over but she was vengeance personified. She was glorious in all of her hateful splendor. There was fire in her eyes and she was not taking no for an answer. Norman was panting with rage and anticipation. She grabbed the collar of Norman's tan undershirt and pulled him close to her mouth.

"You want this..." She stated.

Norman was too tired and too far gone to fight her anymore. He nodded his head and stepped aside. She smiled a lopsided smile and she pushed Norman backward to the bed and he collapsed on it. He rose to his elbows and watched her as she began to destroy the suite, venting all of her pent up and trapped anger and all of his helpless abandon upon the room. Normally Norman would fight her off, tell her to leave him. But he was done fighting everything. He DID want this. He wanted to leave himself and his ultimate protector stepped in to save him again...whether it was good for him or not. He didn't care.

  
The Mother began ripping the curtains from the rods and tearing the rods down from the windows she used them to wipe everything off of the dresser tops. The lamps and stationary along with all the hotel advertisements went scattering around the room with one fell swoop. She laughed maniacally and Norman watched her in quiet awe. She threw the rod and went over to the microwave and smashed it to the ground leaving it plugged in and hanging from the socket. She eyed the flat screen tv hanging on the wall and grinned. She threw a glance back at Norman and winked at him. He smiled back. She practically leaped at it pulling it with all of her might down from the wall smashing it to the ground. She took a toppled lamp and broke it against the tv smashing the front of it in, electrical sparks flying.

  
She tore open drawers and flung them across the room to the walls beside her. She laughed a hysterical laugh of someone who was beyond giddy with recklessness. She knocked over the nightstand and threw a drawer containing the Gideon's bible at the overhead mirror at the sight of her disheveled heaving wild body. She was dressed as usual in her blue and white flowered dress but it was filled out with a tutu slip underneath, patent leather shoes with white laced ruffled socks. The sight of her was quite comical, even if her intentions were not. Her hair was a mess of ringlet curls with the hairband holding it in place, she almost looked like an adult version of Shirley Temple. Her red lipstick was smeared on her face lines coming up the side in a Glasgow smile.

  
The mirror smashed in a place where the drawer hit it and pieces of it showered around the bed. A few large shards landed dangerously close to Norman and he caught his reflection in one. It was her staring back at him with the same smile on her face as his own. He almost passed out, but she would not allow him to yet. She strode over to him and his eyes were fixated on her. She pushed him back onto the bed and panther-like straddled his legs and sat on top of him. "Thank you...."she breathed.

  
"I thought you were dying...."

  
"I am...."

  
"Why are you here...?"

  
"Your pain is stronger than I am....Stronger than you are. It feeds me."

  
"I'm scared of you."

  
"Don't be...Norman...when have I ever let you down? Think about it. I'm always with you and I would never leave you." Her voice had a whispery, dream-like quality to it. Coming from all around the room and her mouth was not syncing up to the words as she spoke. "I know exactly who you are, and what you want...and what you need." She hovered over his face breathing in his breath with hers. She had finally settled into the loving mother he always knew from his memories. She looked at him with nothing but love in her eyes as she traced her finger down the smooth line of his cheek, halting at the tired lines that had formed around his mouth.

  
"I love you...."

  
"I'm so alone...."

  
"No honey....you're never alone." She bent down to kiss him softly on his mouth. Norman closed his eyes to her touch. He pulled her close and held her to him as long as he could hugging away his hurt and she melded and disappeared into his body until he was only hugging his arms around his chest. His eyes were still closed.

  
He opened them and looked around the darkened room. There were pools of light still coming from the overturned lamps and from the up-ended light fixture over the bed. A knowing quizzical smile played along his features. He sat up, demurely and ran fingers through his soft hair, fitting it into place in an attractive style. He looked over at the smashed tv and up to the mirror above his head to the pieces missing to the bed where they lie...He glanced back in a shard and she saw herself reflected same placid smile on her face. She crinkled her nose at herself. The light shining in her bright blue eyes. She started to hum a tune as she stood up and daintily walked to the bathroom. She flicked on the bathroom light and stood before the mirror. She was herself, and yet she was dressed in his clothes. A frown crossed her features. She didn't like the way her son's t-shirt and rumpled khakis looked on her. She was far too elegant for that.

  
She ran a hand along her pale neck and down the front of her shirt. Everything was slow and purposeful. She didn't know how long she had and she didn't want to waste a minute of it. She loved the feel of her body when she was on the outside. She flashed her eyes in a licentious manner with her lip curling as her hand continued its path to her belly. Her other hand joined as she took the corners of her shirt and lifted it up above her head. She admired what she saw before her. Naked from the waist up. Her pale, creamy skin, unflawed and unmarred. She stretched her arms over her head and watched as her body mimicked her moves in the mirror. She trailed her hand back down and skimmed them over her breasts and bit her lower lip. Her hands wanted to play lower and she brought them to the button of her pants.

She undid them and slid the zipper down. She wasn't going to be completely satisfied until she saw all of her, curves and femininity. She was startled in her actions by a loud knocking on the adjoining door.  
She frowned and then realized who it must be. She looked back at her reflection in the mirror and shook her head, keeping her son at bay. 'I'll handle it...' She saw the hints of him peeking around the edges and she took a marble soap dish that was on the counter and threw it at the face looking back at her. 'Stay away!'

  
The knocking was incessant and growing louder on the other side of the door. "NORMAN...What's going on in there?" Dr. Edwards was trying his best to maintain his patient's privacy but he would break down the door if he had to. He heard the sounds of something smashing, and he became more unnerved. He knew this was a bad idea.

"Coming...." He heard the voice from the inside of the room. At least he had not self-harmed.

  
A few more minutes and the lock on the door slowly turned. Norman (not Norman) stood in the doorway with a robe he had found hanging loosely from his body. He hadn't tied it allowing a bit of his chest to show through. He had a sly look on his face as he held the door open and allowed the doctor to pass him. His eyes trailed the doctor and his lip curled as he watched as Dr. Edwards surveyed the room and it's shambles. He closed the door behind him and locked it. He pressed his back up against it, admiring his own handiwork.

  
"Norman.....what.....what happened in here?" Dr. Edwards said literally beside himself with the destruction that took place. He thought he had heard something as he slept, but it wasn't until he heard the smashing on the wall behind him that he knew he had to get up and investigate.

  
"Oh...I'm sorry, Doctor, dear....I had a bit of a struggle changing the channels on the tv set." Norman giggled at his own joke.

  
"Norman...this is not funny...Look at this place!" Dr. Edwards said. He was the most upset Norman had ever seen him. Too upset to realize there was something more wrong with the situation.  
"Don't be silly...it's nothing that a little mop and polish and your wallet couldn't solve." Norman fingered his bathrobe suggestively and took a step away from the door. "Now why don't you come over here and let me take your mind off of it for a while."

He smiled and looked Dr. Edwards from head to toe noting that he looked rather attractive in his silk, mauve pajamas his dark skin contrasting against the colors, a triangular V of his broad chest exposed. Norman took another step towards him and Dr. Edwards for the first time began to see the gravity of the situation here.

  
Norman crossed over to the bed and sat down, crossing one leg over the other and daintily moving the robe over his knee as to hold a mock sense of decorum. The other hand was patting the bed.  
"Why don't you come sit down beside me....and we'll have a lovely chat. " Norman's voice was soft and feminine and he tossed his bangs back, openly flirting with Dr. Edwards.

  
Dr. Edwards let out a ragged sigh. He was not prepared for this. Maybe it was the stress of the trip that caused her to trigger. The medication should have been working. He didn't understand why she was here.

  
"Mrs. Bates. I think it's time for you to go to sleep. It's late and you have had a busy evening...by the looks of things in here. Why don't you call it a night?"

  
"Well I'm just beginning to have fun, doctor...are you sure you don't want to be a part of it? I'm sure Norman wouldn't mind if you used his body. I know you're into that kind of thing. I want to make it just as a pleasurable experience for you as it will be for me."

  
"But what about Norman?" The doctor said raising his eyebrow.

  
"Norman is far away from here right now. He's taking a well-deserved break..." The mother said as she glanced inwardly to check on him. She ignored his screams.

  
"For the first thing, ma'am I'm not interested, " He chuckled at the absurdity. " and for the second thing....I am NOT interested." He said with meaning.

  
"Don't knock it till you try it...Doc..." Norman said gripping at something on the bedspread.

  
"Why are you here?" Dr. Edwards said as he turned his back on Norman and looked out the crookedly hanging blinds down to the street below. "Has Norman been taking his medications the way he should?"

  
Norman's voice was close to his ear so quick and quiet he had snuck up behind him that he didn't hear him approach until he was right on him. "It's going to take more than your sorry pills to get rid of me." Seductive tones tickling the fine hairs of his ear before the sharp stabbing pain digging into his ribs at his side. Dr. Edwards turned around quickly to see Norman standing there with the detracted mirror shard in his hand, blood dripping, flowing freely off of the jagged edge of it.

  
"My...God...Norman...!!" Dr. Edwards said putting a hand to his side. His face was aghast in shock. Norman stood before him smiling calmly. "Is this how you pictured your death, sir?"

  
He lunged, the shard of mirror brandished above his head his own grip causing the mirror to dig into his flesh and cut into his skin. Dr. Edwards sidestepped him at the last minute and he went careening into the window knocking into it with the force of his momentum. Undeterred he swung around with the mirror slashing at anything in front of him. He caught Dr. Edwards in the cheek a long gash sliding easily over his flesh, not digging too deep but one that will leave a scar.

  
Dr. Edwards screamed, losing all of his collected cool and rushed at Norman tackling him to the bed. Norman screeched and tried to stab again. Dr. Edwards had him pinned and was trying to gain an advantage over the struggling below him. He was wild and crazed with an inhuman force but Dr. Edwards was stronger.

  
"Let me GO...!! I'LL KILL YOU!!" Norman screamed.

  
Dr. Edwards removed a hand and was trying to fumble for something in his pocket. Norman brought a knee up and kneed him right in the groin. "FUCK..." Dr. Edwards cursed. He was starting to see things swimming before his eyes. He rolled off of Norman and onto the floor. Norman sat up on the bed panting and heaving. He picked up another mirror shard, prepared to finish the job. His hand shook and became heavy. He could barely lift it up. The piece of mirror dropped from his hand and he placed a bloody palm up to his forehead. His vision swam.

  
"What...what's happening?" He wobbled on his knees. "What have you done?" He felt up to his neck where there was a stinging sensation and pulled out the syringe that was sticking out of it.

  
Dr. Edwards was breathing hard trying to regain his bearings, trying to stand. The stab wound in his side was bleeding badly and he needed to get something to stop it. He could barely get to his knees. He needed to reach the phone. Norman dropped the syringe and collapsed on the bed, immobile. His eyes were glazed over and fluttering. The world went black.

  
Dr. Edwards staggered over to where the phone lay inside the overturned nightstand and put it back on the hook leaving bloody smears all over everything he touched. A bloodied hand picked up the phone and dialed 911. After the call, he made his way to the bathroom to look for towels. They were on their way. He could only imagine what would be going through their minds as he put the hotel's white towels to his side, stopping the flow of blood. He felt dizzy and went to the sink to splash water on his face, the cut there stinging horribly. He was done. He wanted nothing more to do with Norman Bates or the evil that lived inside of him. He couldn't care if he lived or died at that moment. But at that moment he washed his hands of the whole sordid business. He fell to unconsciousness slipping into the tub, willing his pain to go away. The last thing he heard before drifting away was the sounds of pounding and banging on the door.

"Thank you...." he sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to confuse a time or two here but Mother and Norman are the same person as we all know...so everything that was done here was done by Norman...but she is such a powerful force that if there was a struggle for dominance I believe she would become the personality that would win out in the end. And I feel that she would have no qualms in leaving Norman locked away forever to satisfy her own needs.


	9. Antigonish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An introduction....of sorts :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter to get the introductions going. We will get more involved as we go... Come along for the ride!

_Yesterday, upon the stair,_

_ I met a man who wasn't there.  _

_ He wasn't there again today,  _

_ I wish, I wish he'd go away...  _

Norman blinked back into consciousness he didn't know quite just when. His vision was blurry and he couldn't seem to move his hands, or his body for that matter. He was lying down...he didn't know where. His head was throbbing. Pulsating and pounding he wanted to cry out but his mouth felt full of sand. He fought through the waves of nausea overtaking him and noticed a figure standing near the foot of what he guessed a bed. 

There were harsh white lights above him and he had been in too many as of late to realize it was a hospital of some kind. He blinked his eyes again and the figure became a little clearer, a little more in focus. A man in a sharp, well fitting suit stood at the end of Norman's bed. He had his hands to his sides, perfectly vertical to the floor. He didn't slump or slouch but had great posture and an instant calming, patient manner. It seemed if he had been standing there for quite some time, or he could have very well been part of the fixtures of the hospital. He had a receding hairline that blended into a very intelligent, prominent forehead down into a pair of piercing wizened eyes that made Norman feel uneasy the more he focused in on them.

"Good Morning." Smooth, cultured tones greeted his ear. 

Norman tried to lift his head a little more so that he could see the man in front of him. He felt weighted down and as he moved his hands he noticed that they were strapped to the bed. He didn't like the feeling of being trapped and he began to struggle against the restraints. The man walked closer to the bed and lay a hand on his chest.

"Don't move. You'll hurt yourself." He said matter-of-factly. 

"How long..." Norman started then stopped. His throat hurt badly. 

"Oh a few hours....give or take a few. When you missed our appointment, I had the local authorities determine your whereabouts." 

"Doctor....Doctor...?" Still too difficult for words. 

The man looked to his side as if recalling something. He paused. He had a peculiar manner of speaking, like you would have to hang on his every word to get to the same location he would eventually arrive. 

"Your doctor seems to have had a most unfortunate accident..." He flashed his eyes back at Norman. "Yesss...it seems he has suffered some internal injuries and some facial lacerations that could have only occurred during a bad....fall?" 

Norman tried to wrap his mind around what the man was telling him. The last thing he remembered about Dr. Edwards was that he had went into his hotel room for the night. Hearing that Dr. Edwards was hurt made Norman twinge in pain and wince. If only he could dim the lights. The lights were making his head hurt worse and it was difficult to focus. 

"You're coming down off of the sedatives that were administrated to you on your arrival here. There was also evidence of Chlordiazepoxide in your bloodstream. It seems you had quite a difficult transition from your journey. That is most unfortunate." 

"No...it wasn't that...., Norman stopped and shifted in the bed it was hard to do being restrained and he sighed in frustration. 

"Is he ok?" 

"Whom...? Ah yes..., yes...I believe Dr. Edwards will come out of this predicament with a much better understanding than when he entered it. You have to be very careful when it comes to minds such as yours....and _mine_." He said with a wink. 

"Who...?" Norman swallowed hard. The man went over to the bedside table and retrieved a plastic cup and filled it with water from the styrofoam container beside it. He went to Norman and held the cup to his lips and allowed him to take a swallow. The cool liquid burned down the back of his throat but cleared more of the fog around his brain. He drank once more before turning his head away and the man put the cup back on the stand. "Who are you?" 

The man turned to face him and Norman couldn't help but liken him to a feline, but not of a domestic variety. He had a feral look to his features and Norman thought that everything about him was predatory, as if he were stalking his prey and the prey was him. 

He smiled. "I'm your new therapist, Dr. Hannibal Lecter. I'm sorry we could not have met under more fortuitous circumstances, but as it stands, Mr. Norman Bates, I believe you to be a most misunderstood young man. I believe I would have liked to have known you in a private life...and perhaps I shall yet...but that comes with time. And that my dear boy, is what you have right now. You are to rest and when I have cleared it with the authorities you are to accompany me to my facility and we shall endeavor to "treat" you."

"Am I too far gone to be saved, Doctor?" Norman said looking at the man not knowing why he decided to let a bit of his guard down. He trusted no one anymore, certainly not a stranger. There was something about this stranger that intrigued him. 

"With that I will answer you...quid pro quo, Mr. Bates." Dr. Lecter patted his hand and in a moment disappeared as if a figment of Norman's imagination. 

"Mother...." Norman sighed dispiritedly as a nurse came in to check his vitals. "Where are you?"


	10. All good things to those who wait.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lonely days...Lonely nights....where would I be without my woman? - The BeeGees

_Norman Bates - Patient Prognosis - Day 14:_

_Patient continues to appear listless and lethargic. Since arriving a fortnight ago, patient refuses to eat properly, unkempt in appearance, makes no attempts to socialize with fellow inmates, accepts his medication intravenously as he is prone to vomiting with oral intake. During sessions with patient, he refuses to vocalize problematic symptoms and veers decidedly aggressively from the subject of the maternal figure. Patient rarely leaves the confines of his room to partake in the mandatory outside activities. This has left the health and appearance of the patient, pale and sallow. Future treatments need to be modified if there are to be any improvements in his progression._

Dr. Lecter stopped the audio recorder and gazed placidly into the darkened room of his study. The desk lamp light created little illumination over the desk, throwing shadows into his sinister face. "You're proving to be quite the challenge, Mr. Bates." He smiled inwardly. "Fortunately for me...I know how to wait you out."

It was four a.m. and Dr. Lecter had arisen as he always did at this time and moved to his study for a few moments of quiet contemplation. Around his desk were several case files, medical charts, newspapers an appointment book with a meeting penciled in with Special Agent Will Graham of the FBI, and a television with an old video cassette recorder. There was a tape inserted sent to him courtesy of the Baltimore Inn and Suites via the Baltimore police department. He rewound the tape and pressed play once again.

There was static at first on the black and white footage that dissolved into a hotel room. Dr. Lecter observed Norman laying on the bed, his eyes seemingly transfixed at the ceiling. He watched for a few more moments as he saw Norman rise from the bed in slow motion and then almost as if someone snapped their fingers, began to tear apart his hotel room. He saw Norman rip the curtains off and wipe his desk clear of everything on it. He saw him jump up from the floor and rip the flat-screen TV from its bolted in location and smash it to the ground. Dr. Lecter cocked his head still intrigued by the hypnotic fashion in which Norman methodically destructed the room. He saw him pick up the nightstand and fling it at the mirror over the bed.  

Lecter forwarded the tape, watching the fast-motioned movements and then pressed play when Dr. Edwards entered the room. He observed Norman's change in demeanor and affectations. He watched finally, the violence that was afflicted upon the hapless doctor and the subduing of Norman as he now lay prone on the bed. The tape faded to black. He rewound the tape to where Norman had opened the door for Dr. Edwards, noting the decided femininity of his posture and pose. He watched as Norman sat on the bed demurely and then made 'come hither' gestures to Dr. Edwards. He made notes on his pad.

"Who is she...?" He pondered.

\----

Norman wandered aimlessly through the halls of the Johns Hopkins Institute mental health wing. He saw nothing through his lifeless eyes. He just shuffled past one nondescript door after another. He was dressed, as of late, in his usual long-sleeved pajamas and blue bathrobe and slippers. His hands were in his pockets and he rarely picked his tousled, uncombed head up, only if he happened to bump into something or someone. He was so very tired. So very drained. So very sad. Not much had happened to him since his admittance to the hospital.

He remembered being assigned a room that he had to share with another inmate, an old man who talked constantly. Norman had quickly learned to tune out the droning, but it went on and on to the point of he had to do what he was doing today, wandering the halls to escape the noise. It wasn't screaming or ranting, it was just a constant mutter of words. If you happened to focus on any of the streams of thought pouring from his mouth, none would make a complete sentence and it was pointless to try. He even talked in his sleep. Norman wanted to ask to be moved, but what did it matter anymore? He felt all of his care had left him at the doorstep of this place. What he had done to Dr. Edwards still lay heavy in his mind and in his heart.

He remembered meeting with Dr. Lecter the first few days, the doctor not saying much to him at all, just observing....feeling him out. He asked no questions and for the most part, they just sat there staring at one another. He noted that the doctor's face lost none of the feral features of their first meeting. He would catch him sometimes flashing his teeth in his direction, he supposed it was a smile of some kind but it unnerved Norman. He was still uncertain of the doctor's bedside manner. Norman didn't feel much like talking in the beginning anyway. He was content to sit on the soft leather couch and study the doctor's office at the hospital.

There were all kinds of oddities of the human mind and body. Once during the silence, he asked if he might explore and the doctor eagerly allowed him to. He found many objects he had never knew existed in his darkest imagination and many books that drew his interest. _'Feel free to borrow any that you like...'_ Was the doctor's offer. Every time he looked in Dr. Lecter's direction he saw the doctor's eyes fixed on him with a hard fascination. His eyes would always flash with a light of their own and Norman was curious about what went on behind them.

The first time Dr. Lecter asked him about his mother, Norman shut down. It had been over a week since he had spoken to her the last time at the hotel. He had not been allowed to contact her since. The police had been temporarily dismissed by Dr. Lecter and the hospital as he had informed them that Norman was under intense observation and that if Dr. Edwards wanted to press charges he should do that through him and leave Norman out of it. Norman was to be the sole patient under guidance and care of Dr. Lecter and any and all correspondence, phone calls outside sources were to come through him, including phone calls or communications with his mother. When he asked Dr. Lecter again if Dr. Edwards was alright, he was informed that it would take quite some time before he would be healed and that he would not be stopping by to talk or visit him before he would be flown home to recuperate.

_"Does he hate me?"_

_"Hate is such a strong word...," Lecter said with a contemplative smile. "But what would you say to the person you meant to protect that you could not protect yourself from? What do you think your mother would say?"_

The past week had been more of the same. Aimless wandering. He was not eating much because he was not hungry. He was not sleeping much because every time he closed his eyes, he saw the memory of his mother's disappointed face, heard the sounds of her harsh words, remembered the way she told him that they needed to be apart. The constant flow of medication into his system kept _her_ away as well. He had not seen his "mother" since that night in the hotel room. When he awoke in the hospital the next day, he looked for her. She was nowhere. Not in the corner of his eye. Not in the corner of his mind. It was if she faded into the mist of his confusion. He looked for her when he arrived here and kept an eye out for her in the corners but she had yet to show her face to him. He felt more alone without even her face to comfort him.

_Tell me you love me...come back and haunt me....nobody said it was easy....no one ever said it would be this hard._

Dr. Lecter was just finally beginning to make sense to his brain when he told him that he experienced hallucinations and that the reason why he was here was to help him to stop them from happening. Lecter told him that he most likely, but not certainly, had the beginning stages of schizophrenia and asked if Norman understood what that was. He had known from Dr. Edwards that he said there might be more than one person inside of Norman. He didn't understand what that meant at the time, but Dr. Lecter had let him take a book on schizophrenia back to his room to study at his leisure. He read a bit here and there when he could when his roommate was away muttering to himself somewhere else.

The day nurse finally caught up to Norman as he was making his way to the cafeteria. He thought he would just go there to see if he could stomach anything of the food before he passed out, but the smell from the room was already beginning to make him nauseous. He smelled burnt bacon and oatmeal and saw the room full of patients, some rocking and moaning in the corner, some being helped to eat, some staring at their food, almost catatonic. He remembered back to Pineview sitting across from Julian and wished he was there at least to throw a couple of jokes his way. He remembered how he left him, drugged up and drooling and he shook his head willing the thought away. _'Would this be what I become?'_

"Norman...?" The nurse put a hand on his arm shaking him out of his reverie.

"Yes?"

"Norman....I have been looking all over for you. Dr. Lecter is here and he is waiting in his office for your appointment. You need to come with me now, please."

Norman let the woman tug him along to the doctor's office. Down a long hallway with glass windows, the morning sunlight shone on them both casting shadows ahead of them. Norman thought that his shadow was more eager to see the doctor than he was. What kind of circling around would they do today? Frankly, it made Norman worn out to try and stay one step ahead of a race he was losing before he even started. He wanted to sleep. He wearily put a hand on the doorknob. The nurse patted him on the back, smiled sympathetically and turned to walk away.


	11. The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashing back and forth in Norma's timeline...we can't forget about Norma Louise!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Borrowed a bit of dialogue from 4X9 ...it fit perfectly!
> 
> Song lyrics are Breathe Me by Sia :)

Norma Bates sat at the kitchen table alone. There was a place set for one across from her. She studied it, perfectly laid, waiting for someone to sit in front of it and join her in her evening meal. A tear formed in the corner of her eye and she hurriedly brushed it away. She would not allow herself to cry.

  
It had been two weeks since he was gone. Since they both were gone. Since they were all gone. Norma sat in the dark underneath the pool of light from the overhead light in the kitchen. The house was silent, as it had been for the past week. The week prior she had screamed herself hoarse at all of the men in her life. All it left her was hollow, jagged and alone. She had no one or nothing but her thoughts to keep her company. Her thoughts were loud enough, echoing off of the walls bouncing back to her screaming... _"Where did I go wrong?_ "

  
Where there was once laughter and love in her house, where she once praised the people she knew for making her life complete and happy, there was now silence and bitterness of the days past. Norma picked up her plate of uneaten food and deposited it in the sink. She walked down the hallway and looked at her newly installed stained glass window in the foyer. Chick Hogan had actually done a spectacular job at making his vision come true and Norma had to admit she really liked his artistic talents even if it had come at a price of her slipping sanity. The had settled their differences, for the time being, over the whereabouts of her brother Caleb and he graciously gave in in deference to having a bullet in his head. She made her stand and held firm and it was good that he accepted it. He was still one odd duck.

Norma shrugged and turned her back on the glass and crossed over to peer into the empty living room. Her piano sat untouched in the corner, the memories of her and her brother sitting side by side singing old songs, reminiscing the past. That was the last truly good night with everyone she loved all together under her roof as she turned a blind eye to any discomfort or bad feelings. That night was what SHE wanted and no one would take that away from her.

  
She climbed slowly up the stairs to the second floor of her home that now seemed way too big for one person to live in. She paused by Dylan's bedroom and placed a hand on his door. He was now away with Emma starting a new life with her and her new chance at life. She wished him happiness but a small part of her wished he was here with her right now, even if it was to throw out a sarcastic barb or two to spar with her need to be pushed. She smiled and turned to another bedroom door. She crossed over to it. Her legs suddenly heavy. She couldn't move. She was trembling and she gripped the banister for support. One step after another. She could do this. She rested her forehead against his door. _'Don't give in now, Norma Louise...'_ She pushed his door open.

  
The room was just the way he had left it. Neat and tidy. Truthfully, she had come in here every night to stand in his doorway, lean against the frame since he was recommitted and followed what was now becoming a ritual. She would stare at his room, his bed, his dog. She shook her head at the dog. _'I remember when arguing with you over your strange hobby was the most important thing to be concerned about...'_ She huffed incredulously. Tonight she moved away from his doorway to come further into his room. Something had compelled her to want more. She could barely keep it together long enough to fall on his bed and hold his pillow close to her. She hugged it tightly with all of her strength and pressed her nose into the pillowcase. She wanted to find his scent. She needed to breathe him.

  
_Help, I have done it again_  
_I have been here many times before_  
_Hurt myself again today_  
_And the worst part is there's no one else to blame_

  
She began to cry into his pillow. She needed him and she didn't know how to find him anymore. It was her stubbornness and temper that had always been to blame, that had always gotten her to where she was at, at this moment. It drove the people she loved away from her when she only wanted to pull them closer to her. She couldn't help herself. She never could.

  
She allowed herself to cry a while longer before she willed herself to dry her tears. She put his pillow back into place and smoothed out the wrinkles that had formed, touching her teardrops that had made tiny circles of wetness on the fabric. She kissed her hand and put in on his pillow. There was hope that they would be together again. She had to hold on to that hope and do something about it. She stood up and left the room, just as he had left it. She closed the door to Juno's eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

  
She crossed the small distance to her own bedroom. She flicked on the lamp beside her bed and looked down at the empty bed in front of her. Alex had still left traces of himself behind. His jacket on the chair in the corner. His shoes by the door. A couple of his favorite movies on the dresser. She looked at these items and smiled a forlorn smile in the direction of his jacket. She stood before the floor length mirror and looked at herself. She looked so small. She looked so lost. She looked so broken in this empty house. So out of place. She didn't bother undressing, but exhaustion led her to her bed where she collapsed and turned out her lamplight. The moonlight from the window glittered on her wedding ring. She had kept it on, even after the circumstances. She had pulled it back from the envelope after second thoughts and after missing her husband. This was the piece of him that she could keep close to her heart if he could not be here physically. The moonlight shown upon the empty side of her bed as a final reminder that there was no one to lay there next to her.

  
_Ouch, I have lost myself again_  
_Lost myself and I am nowhere to be found,_  
_Yeah I think that I might break_  
_Lost myself again, and I feel unsafe_

  
Norma fell into a fitful sleep. She tossed and turned and eventually began to replay the events that led up to this moment over again in her head.

  
" _How dare you. How COULD you! I TRUSTED YOU!_ " She screamed in his face as he entered the door. He had barely opened the door to the house and she was there waiting for him.

  
_"What? What's the matter? What did I do?_ " Alex put up his hands to block the attack that soon followed. Norma came at him swinging. She hadn't fought him this hard since she was forced to confess about Norman's past. She pushed him hard against the door.

  
_"Norma...NORMA...STOP!!"_ Alex grabbed her wrists and pushed her against the far wall blocking more blows. _"Tell me what's going on!!"_

  
_"You did this! You let him leave!!! You DIDN'T CARE about what it MEANS TO ME!!!"_ She screamed in his face and cried the tears flowing freely.

  
_"But....But I don't understand? He told you right? You TALKED to him!!! I know I would NEVER do this unless you were ok with it...YOU KNOW THAT!! YOU KNOW ME!!!_ " Alex brought his hands to her shoulders gripping her hard and forcing her to look up into his eyes. He searched hers. She was crying and would not be consoled. He tried to pull her into his arms. To hold her to hug her hurt away.

  
_"He's GONE, Alex!! He's gone! He's left me. I can't live without him!! I don't know what I'm going to do...TELL ME!!! TELL ME WHY YOU DID THIS!!!???"_ She pushed away from him and ran up the stairs. Romero followed after her.

  
She was in the bedroom with his suitcase open on the bed. She was frantically pulling his clothes out of the closet and throwing them into the bag. He stood in the doorway and ran a hand through his hair.

_"What are you doing, Norma? Why are you doing that? You need to stop and think rationally about what you're doing!"_

  
_"I AM thinking rationally! I can't have you here anymore. I can't look at you....all I see is you signing papers and getting rid of my son! How can I look at you any other way? How can I let you touch me?"_

  
_"I'm your husband! I'm important to you. I matter! Norman is your SON...he made that decision on his own!! He should have told you but he didn't...he called me to come and sign him over. It's not my fault!"_ Alex went to the bed and tried to get her to stop throwing things into the bag. She stopped suddenly and looked at him. Tears ruining her mascara, streaks of black on her cheeks. She rubbed a hand over her dripping nose.

  
_"Please....please Norma. Don't do this to me."_ Alex said his resolve breaking.

  
Norma breathed. _"I just....I just can't have you here around me right now. You need to go. This was a bad idea. You know, we were happy when we were living in a bubble...but life isn't a bubble. You crossed over a line and you are never crossing back. I will never trust you again."_ She grabbed his bag and thrust it into his arms. She stared at him hard.

  
Romero stood in the doorway of her bedroom with his bag in his hand. His features returned back to their stoic resolve. " _You leave me no choice."_

  
Norma folded her arms. _"Yeah..well, you left me no choice."_

  
Norma turned over and frowned in her sleep. She remembered Alex stomping down the stairs and the sounds of both doors almost slamming off of their hinges. She remembered going to her window and watch as he made his way to his truck throwing his bag in the back. She watched his tires spin in the gravel as he sped away. A tear slipped down her cheek.

Hopefully, she would be able to fix this situation too. She had to fix everything. _'I'll worry about that tomorrow.'_ She told herself and drifted off into unconsciousness.


	12. There's No Place Like Home? - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously...on Bates Motel. (I've always wanted to say that...XD)
> 
> Just a short chapter wanting to get some dialogue in between Norman and Lecter.

Norman pushed the door open and stepped into the spacious, yet meticulously cluttered office of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. He didn't quite see the doctor at first as his hollow eyes scanned the room. He saw the couch he had been sitting on for the past two weeks, the large mahogany desk in the far corner against the wall, the doctor's medical odds and ends, one of which included a two-headed calf which Norman had taken a particular interest in. The coffee table had an array of magazines and books. There was a cookbook sitting on top of a stack of fashion magazines and Norman had thought that it was out of place. He shrugged and shuffled over to the window to peer outside before the doctor arrived. He wanted a few quiet moments to explore before the doctor started in with his usual enigmatic questioning. He stared out into the sunshine and noticed a few of the patients were milling around the yards, the staff was close by just in case someone tried to injure themselves or someone else. Norman reached up and gripped the curtain and bit his bottom lip. He had cried so much and didn't know where the tears were coming from or how he even had the strength to do so.

He didn't notice that Lecter had crept up quietly behind him and was observing him as he trembled by the window. The tears were flowing and not stopping and he was about to sob when he noticed the doctor's reflection in the window and Norman saw that it looked back at him in absolute malevolence. Even through the window pane, Norman noticed the hungry look in the doctor's eyes as if he relished his pain and wanted more. Norman whirled to face him and the doctor was completely composed, placidly smiling, hands slightly raised as if to apologize for startling him.

  
"Oh...I'm sorry Doctor Lecter. I didn't hear you come in." Norman said furtively wiping the tears from his eyes and face.

  
"It's quite all right, my boy. I didn't mean to startle you. You seemed preoccupied by something outside of the window?"

  
"No...it's nothing...really." Norman said suddenly not knowing what to do with his hands. He tried putting them in his pockets then quickly took them out. He wanted to edge around Dr. Lecter but he stood there blocking his path. He ducked his head.

  
"Please....sit." Dr. Lecter said standing aside and allowing Norman to pass.

He went to the leather couch and slumped into it, letting it almost swallow him up. He wished it would at this point. Lecter went to his desk and flipped through a few pages in a file. He watched Norman out of the corner of his eye. Norman had put his head in his hand and was staring blankly into a space on the wall...seeing nothing.

  
"Are you happy here, Mr. Bates?" Lecter said after a few moments of deafening silence. Lecter came to the front of his desk and leaned against it. His eyes were trained on Norman waiting for him to look up and meet his eyes.

  
"I...I don't know....I wanted to try...but I...I just can't seem to get out of this trap that I've put myself in." Tears continued to drop slowly from his eyes, down his cheeks, and onto his chest. Lecter crossed the room to him and handed him a box of tissues. "I've got to get out of this place," Norman said mostly to himself when he reached up to take the box from Lecter.

  
Lecter stood before him and looked down at the top of his head. "Your therapy is really going nowhere with you here."

  
Norman looked up at him. The tears still swimming in his eyes. Dr. Lecter patted his shoulder. "I've arranged it so that you could continue your treatment at my private residence. I don't often follow such unorthodox methods for treatment, but I feel in your case I can make an exception. If you are willing to make an effort in progressing in our sessions and recovery." He stopped speaking and let the silence take over the room once again.

  
Norman cocked his head in contemplation. He didn't trust anyone anymore but anything was better than sitting in this hell day after day with no light at the end of the tunnel.

  
"Well...?" Lecter crossed back over to his desk and resumed his position.

  
Norman smiled for the first time in a long time. "I think I'd like that."

  
Dr. Lecter smiled back at him, not unlike the smile that the Grinch smiled in 'The Grinch that Stole Christmas'. "Okey Dokey." He went over to his desk and signed some papers. "You will need to prepare yourself to leave by the end of this week. We will go to my home that is not far from this facility. You will become my ward and I will begin your specialized treatment and we will be on the way to your cure."

  
Norman stood, eager to start getting ready and be done with this week. He was willing to try but he just didn't feel right in this place with these kinds of people. He thought of what his "mother" had told him about dropping his medication and maybe he could convince Dr. Lecter to agree with him, or at the very least he could stop on his own without the watchful eyes of the hospital staff always on him.

He got up to leave and crossed the room. Dr. Lecter followed him a few paces behind.

"Thank you, Dr. Lecter. I really will try. I already feel better." Norman said a small smile still playing on his lips.

  
"That is a marked improvement, Norman...May I call you Norman?" Dr. Lecter said, politeness always winning out.

  
"Of course, Dr...." Norman paused as if unsure he was supposed to be on a first name basis with him.

  
"I'd prefer if you'd still call me Doctor, " Lecter said with a slight chuckle. "It's quite the mouthful to get Hannibal out all the time."

  
Norman nodded his head smiling politely. They stood in the doorway and he turned to leave.

  
"And, Norman...."

  
Norman turned to look at him.

  
"We will use this time for intense and sometimes uncomfortable sessions to determine the reasoning behind why you killed your father. I want you to ask yourself....did you do it so that you could have your mother all to yourself?"

  
"How did you....I didn't...." Norman was left standing and stuttering in front of the now closed door in his face.


	13. There's No Place Like Home? - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Will you walk into my parlour?” said the Spider to the Fly,  
> 'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;  
> The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,  
> And I've a many curious things to show when you are there.”
> 
> “Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “to ask me is in vain,  
> For who goes up your winding stair  
> -can ne'er come down again.”

_She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak_  
_I've been locked inside your heart-shaped box for weeks_  
_I've been drawn into your magnetar pit trap trap_  
_I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black_

 _Hey!_  
_Wait!_  
_I've got a new complaint_  
_Forever in debt to your priceless advice - Nirvana Heart Shaped Box_

  
Norman stared out of the window of the oppressive Bently Arnage as it traveled down the Maryland countryside. His small cache of possessions were in the trunk and all he had on his person was a toiletries bag with a few supplies. There was a fair amount of new snow on the ground after the recent fall and it all looked crisp and fluffy against the cloudless blue sky. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining brightly overhead. The car was warm and toasty inside and very cozy. Norman watched the fields of snow fly past, often bordered by white fencing, most likely the property of the rich in Baltimore.

He stole a quick glance over to the driver and noted that Dr. Lecter was intensely focussed on the road ahead of him. Maybe it was due to the fact that he had to maneuver the large car over the slick icy road, but Norman had a feeling he took everything in with the same amount of intensity. He returned back to the window and saw a few snow covered red barns and cottage homes. He wondered what this place would look like in the springtime. It was a beautiful picture in the winter, he thought he would love to build a puzzle with his mother with one of these wintertime scenes. He bit his lip and pushed the thought aside. He thought back to the conversation he had with Lecter before he left the hospital this morning. It gave him mixed emotions but it would be something he would sort out in his own way.

  
_'I'm going to reduce your medication once you leave the facility, Norman.'_ Dr. Lecter said looking at him pointedly.

  
' _Why?'_

  
_'Between me and you, I honestly don't think that medication is the kind of treatment you need. I'll let you in on a secret, I don't really care much for psychology as a science. It is puerile and most psychology departments are filled with ham radio enthusiasts and other personality-deficient buffs.'_

  
They had both shared a conspiratorial laugh but Norman wondered why he was in the field if he had such disdain for it.

  
' _Do you think that it is going to be safe for me to stop taking my meds?_ '

  
_'My dear boy, most of what you have been receiving since you've arrived has been placebo. You have been on mild doses but the side effects you've been experiencing are mainly due to your increasingly depressed state. I don't feel you've been given a proper chance to express yourself in an appropriate atmosphere and that you are becoming more and more oppressed by your surroundings. We will never come to the root cause if you continue on._ '

  
_'Why are you doing this for me?'_

  
He remembered Dr. Lecter looking at him for a very long time before replying. _'You remind me of myself at your age. Perhaps I'll tell you a story, once we've gotten to know each other bett_ er.'

  
The car turned down a long dirt road covered in patches of snow making it more difficult to navigate. It seemed to Norman they were driving to the edge of the world. The houses had become more sparse and there was nothing but snow around for miles. He felt a twinge of fear in his stomach as his mind started creating all kinds of scenarios. He was out in the middle of nowhere and he wasn't sure he could plan an escape route if he needed to. He glanced at Lecter again and there was the slightest quirk of a smile playing on his lips, as he continued to make his way down the road. There was a patch of woods on one side of the road and on the other they approached a large almost mansion of a house. Norman had never seen such an extravagant building. There appeared to be a stable and barn behind the home and another expanse of field marked off with the white fencing.

  
Dr. Lecter turned up the drive and Norman's mouth dropped open. ' _Was he going to be staying here?_  'The place almost rivaled the hospital they just left. It had so many windows and so many rooms.

  
"We're here." Dr. Lecter said stopping the engine and opening the car door. His tone was neutral, almost bored.

"This is your home?" Norman said opening his own door and stepping out. The sun was warming him, but as he spoke the clouds of mist billowed from his mouth. It was still too cold. He clapped his arms around his chest and went to the trunk. Dr. Lecter motioned for him to come into the house. He had someone from the house retrieve the bags.

  
"My staff will take care of everything, Norman. They are here through the week and leave on the weekends. I need to give them something to do." Lecter made his way to the front of the house. He paused waiting for Norman as his eyes took in his surrounds. He walked past the threshold of his home and held his arm out, ushering Norman inside. The inside was spectacular. Wall to wall opulence of taste and class. Norman felt as if he was in some sort of museum, the themes bordering on Italian and Parisian tastes. There were fountains of cherubs and greek goddesses everywhere. The floor was granite tiled and the staircase leading to the top floor was alabaster marbled. Splashes of blood-red tapestry and floor coverings off-set the stark white immaculate foyer.

  
"I'll show you to your room," Dr. Lecter said close to Norman's ear. He had almost forgotten that the doctor was there he seemed to have blended into the scenery, but was back just as quick, his omnipresence engulfed the surroundings as he appeared to be a part of the house itself.

  
Norman's room on the second floor was massive. He could fit three of his old bedrooms in this one and still another two or three closets besides. He appraised the room taking in the four poster bed and modernly antique furnishings. It looked different from the rest of the house. It had a large desk in the corner of the room and a laptop computer on top. He lifted his eyes to the corners of the room, noting there was a camera in one of them. "For your safety..." Dr. Lecter spoke softly. His voice still echoed all around. "The laptop has internet access, but for the time being the sites are monitored and you will have limited capabilities. I apologize for the necessity."

  
"I understand," Norman said. His voice sounded small in the expanse of the room. There were several small to midsized taxidermied figures of birds and wildlife on the shelves and in the corners. Norman's eyes lit up. "You know taxidermy?"

  
"I have dabbled in it, but I am far from an expert."

  
"Did you do these?"

  
"I've done a couple of them. The rest are from neighbors and fellow enthusiasts"

  
Norman approached one and examined it lovingly. Memories and flashes of his past sprung forth unaided and his hand hesitated, mid-stroke on a woodchuck and he closed his eyes. "Do you think....I'm sorry, do you think I can get these removed from here? I'm...I'm just not ready for this."

  
Dr. Lecter looked at him quizzically but did not question him. "Of course. I do apologize if they have offended you."

  
"It's not that...." Norman said remembering a time when his mother was frantically trying to remove all traces of his hobby from the basement and how she felt under his fingertips as he told her his thoughts were always about her, night and day. Always. He couldn't shake the specter of her away, even now.

  
"Why don't I let you tidy up and get accustomed to the changes. I will send Jonathan up momentarily to remove the animals and make you as comfortable as possible. I will see about getting some dinner together.

"Dr. Lecter....." Norman said as the doctor had turned to leave.

  
"Yes?"

  
"It's ok...you can leave them here for now. I need to face my demons one at a time, and if this is the first challenge it shouldn't be too hard to overcome." Norman smiled waveringly.

  
Dr. Lecter patted the doorknob. "Very well....dinner is at six."

  
\-------

  
Norman woke up in strange, unfamiliar territory. He didn't remember falling asleep but after a moment of disorientation, he remembered where he was. Shadows were beginning to be cast around the room, but it was still daylight, just at the edge of twilight. He was lying flat on his back in the middle of the bed, just how he had done at home. Just how he had done in every bed since. The bed was firm, but very comfortable, and seemed to be made out of that memory foam stuff that contoured to your body. It was very luxurious and Norman found it hard to sit up. He had not covered himself and he ran a hand along the fine linen sheets. Clearly, Dr. Lecter came from wealth. Norman had never known this life. He didn't feel the doctor was pretentious with his wealth; he didn't seem to flaunt it, but his tastes and mannerisms seemed to reflect that he required it and in great quantities.

  
What had woken him, he decided was the smells of something cooking from somewhere in the house. Whatever it was, it had a delicious aroma that had found its way to Norman's room and to his tastebuds. He realized he was famished. He hadn't had a good home cooked meal in a really long time. _Why did everything still remind him of her?_

  
He left the bedroom with the door open. The house was illuminated by chandeliers made of crystal from the vaulted ceiling and the occasional candled pillars. Norman ran his slender hand with tapered fingers along the curving banister and quietly descended the staircase. The smells were coming from the back of the house and Norman used his stealthy sneaky mode to creep quietly through the house and observe his host without his knowledge. Norman had become pretty good at sneaking and spying, there was a sort of a rush involved in watching someone without them being aware. He smiled to himself. He crossed into another room and found himself in a large dinning room area. The table it held could seat 10 comfortably and it looked as if it had hosted many parties. It had a long sideboard buffet across the back wall capable of holding many dishes and it had currently laid out many sterling silver platters and crystal goblets. A few odd-shaped bottles of alcohol were beside the glasses and Norman could only guess what was inside.

  
There was a clattering in the room to the right of the dinning area and a slight crack in the door with a harsh white light coming from within. It was a contrast to the soft amber glow the rest of the house was bathed in. Norman thought that this may be the kitchen and he might go and spy on the cook if he or she was the one making the aroma that was causing his stomach to growl. He rubbed a hand over it, trying to quiet the rumblings.

  
He eased into the shadows and peeked in the room. His eyes flittered around the equally expansive kitchen. There was so much that this house had he could easily get lost in one room. The kitchen was as sterilized and white and antiseptically clean as the front foyer. It had no warmth as the dinning room had. No touch of personality in here. Just white on white. Stainless steel appliances and a kitchen island that looked like a large cut piece of stone was just deposited in the middle. It had a flat surface and all manner of utensils were strewn around it. A hand reached for a large carving knife and raised it so that it caught the overhead lighting. Norman felt time stop. He swore he could see his reflection in the smooth silver. His blood froze inside of his skin. His hands clenched and unclenched. It lasted only a matter of seconds but he felt as if his whole life was culminated in the pristine edge of the blade.

  
The owner of the hand brought the blade down to the chopping block where it sliced through an onion with ease. Norman's eyes traveled up the arm to the back of none other than the doctor dressed in casual clothes, not his normal suit and tie. He was wearing a maroon sweater and navy blue chinos. His feet were bare and Norman thought they must be cold, but the house was pleasant, it was just the starkness of the kitchen that made it seem like a morgue. There was some meat sizzling in a pan on the range and Dr. Lecter went to attend to it, throwing in some garlic and shallots and the onion he had chopped. Norman's mouth had begun to water. He watched Dr. Lecter stir something bubbling in a silver pot.

  
Norman hadn't realized it but he had eased his way into the kitchen and was approaching the kitchen island, his feet moving on their own accord. Dr. Lecter had placed the carving knife back on the stone and it was within Norman's reach to pick up. He looked down at it and became lost in the sharp and sleekness of it. _'It would fit so easily in my palm'_ He never wanted to touch anything more. His fingers itched toward it.

  
Dr. Lecter turned from the range as he heard something clatter to the ground. He was aware of Norman's presence in the room, regardless if Norman had been trying to sneak up on him or not. He smelled him. He smelled him above the smell of the meat cooking in the pan and above the smells of the aromatic candles that smelled of cinnamon and cedar. His heightened sense of smell had always been a talent and a necessity in his bag of tricks. It gave him an advantage. Norman smelled of fear and anticipation. He smelled of cheap cologne and cheaper antiperspirant. He wasn't making a commentary on the boy's financial state, but he knew he didn't come from a prosperous background and he would probably always have to work hard for his living. Maybe he would be able to fix that as well.

  
Dr. Lecter looked down to the floor where he saw the carving knife shining back at him in the kitchen light. He caught Norman's eyes in the reflection of the blade and he smiled slowly. Norman's eyes were haunted and Lecter's eyes were knowingly aware of his awakening.

  
"Good Evening, Norman. Did you sleep well?" Dr. Lecter said evenly. There was nothing in his voice that would suggest, fear or nervousness or suspicion of Norman's actions. He was calm and collected and had the slightest edge of danger to his presence. His eyes commanded Norman to dive deep and be held, trapped like a rabbit in a snare. He crossed the room and stood before him. He bent down slowly to pick up the blade and he brandished it before the younger man shining the light in his face. "It's quite beautiful...is it not?"

  
"Yes..." Norman gulped.

  
Lecter placed it back on the countertop and returned his gaze to Norman's. Something had shifted in Norman's features. For the first time, Lecter had seen something stirring in the depths of his eyes. He saw a visceral hunger and an animal staring back at him, barely restrained only by the weakness of his physical state. Dr. Lecter felt the temperature rise in the room by few degrees.

"Norman...why don't you return to the dining room and sit at the table. I will bring the meal shortly and you can get some real food inside of you....none of that hospitalized pablum they served you there. You need to regain some real strength and I wager my cooking will put you on the right path."

  
Whatever had been growling behind Norman's eyes was tucked away with a shake of his head. He placed a hand to his forehead as if he had been dreaming. How did he wind up in the kitchen? How long did Lecter know he was there? He nodded his head and turned away from the room.

He went to one of the empty chairs that had a place setting before it. The table was set all the way around as if always expecting the guests to arrive at any time and there was not so much as a speck of dust or fingerprint on anything. Norman picked up a butter knife and tinged the wine glass in front of him. He heard the note it produced almost musical. He smiled. He liked this room a lot. It felt formal but inviting. One of the walls afforded a stunning fireplace, magnificent and roaring with flames and Norman realized this was the general heat source of the house. It was almost a wall of fire and Norman was losing himself in the flickering glow when Lecter entered the room with a covered platter.

  
"Your fireplace is amazing, sir."

"I'm glad you approve. Are you too warm?"

  
"No, I'm comfortable. In fact, everything is just perfect here. If I were you, I'd never want to leave."

  
Lecter smiled ruefully. "Then everyone would be deprived of the gift of me." He flashed his eyes at Norman playfully.

  
Norman shook his head. He kinda liked the doctor's sense of humor. He had to find the double meanings and it kept him guessing. But he needed that challenge as well.

  
Dr. Lecter placed the platter in front of Norman and removed the platinum lid. There was a plate of food underneath the lid that looked more enticing than any meal that Norman had eaten in the weeks he had spent in both institutions and for even a long while at his own home. His stomach growled again in response. Dr. Lecter chuckled and patted Norman's shoulder. "I thought so."

  
Norman looked down at his plate and Dr. Lecter  found his seat at the head of the table. He had a bottle of chianti chilling in an ice bucket and he poured himself a glass. He went to the kitchen and returned with his own plate and sat down, picking up his knife and fork and cutting into the meat. Norman took his cue and did the same. He looked at the beans beside the meat and tried a spoonful. They weren't bad. He wondered what kind they were. He chewed them thoughtfully and watched the Doctor eat a piece of the meat.

  
"Those are fava beans, in case you were wondering," Lecter said after he had swallowed the meat in his mouth. He took a measured drink of the chianti and watched Norman with the same intensity he used to drive his car earlier that morning. "You should try the liver...I've really outdone myself this time."

  
Norman cut into the meat. It was a little tough to cut through as he knew liver to be that way and put a piece into his mouth. The flavor was sensational. He chewed it savoring the taste and texture and seasoning and care that went into preparing it. He looked at Dr. Lecter, his eyes glowing from the reflection of the firelight and candles.

  
"I love it."


	14. A Revelation in the Light of Day.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oedipus complex, in psychoanalytic theory, a desire for sexual involvement with the parent of the opposite sex and a concomitant sense of rivalry with the parent of the same sex; a crucial stage in the normal developmental process. Sigmund Freud introduced the concept in his Interpretation of Dreams (1899).

Fresh snow had fallen overnight blanketing the world Norman now knew in unending whiteness. His room had no chill or draft, and Norman had the best sleep he had had in ages. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept so well. Last night's meal combined with the long drive and the comfort of the bed had knocked him out for the count. He actually woke up refreshed. He was now staring out of the arched window to the ground below. Shapes of things he did not know were snow covered and it looked pretty deep. He hoped they would not be snowed in. He wanted to get out and explore.

  
He dressed neatly in his usual buttoned up long-sleeved shirt with blue sweater pullover. Brown pants and brown shoes completed the ensemble and he stood before the full-length mirror in the room and straightened himself up. He studied his face and noted the dark circles and pale skin. There wouldn't be much changing his appearance since it was winter, and it was hard to get a tan without much direct sunlight. Everything outside had a hazy shade and he hoped he had brought enough warm clothes with him to bundle up.

  
The haunted figure in the mirror smiled back at him when he did. He took a deep breath and looked behind him in the mirror to the corners of the room. Since arriving he had only taken one dose of his medication, a far cry from the almost constant drip into his system. He was actually thinking with a clearer head today, but he didn't know at what price that came. He felt fine for the moment and shook his head. He actually felt silly.

  
He took a brush and began to brush his hair. It was starting to get long again and he flashed back to the time his mother had given him his last haircut when he had come home the first time. Looking up into her eyes, saying that they were finally back together, feeling her body's warmth close to him, her hands in his hair, trimming and cutting. He wished he could live in those memories. He brushed harder at his hair, putting it into place, putting the thoughts out of his head. _'The world can be such a lonely place sometimes, can't it Juno?'_

  
He went back to the window, opening the curtains wider. He looked down and noticed a set of footprints leading out to the side of the house. There was something red against the sheer white blanket of mostly undisturbed snow. It was trailing beside the footsteps. It looked to Norman like drops of blood...and from his position rather large ones. Norman cocked his head and grabbed his coat hanging on the bed post.

He was down the stairs and out of the door in a flash. He followed the footsteps around the corner of the house. He bent down to examine the bright red liquid that stood out in vivid color against the snow. To him, it looked exactly like blood and a lot of it. He touched it with his gloved hand and brushed it off on his pants leg. He cautiously went around the side of the house and noticed that the footsteps led a trail all the way to the barn in the back. He didn't notice any drag marks and he willed that thought away. His mind always took a morbid turn, especially with the drama he had endured in the past years. No one else probably would have put that line of thought together, but Norman had seen enough bloodshed in his past to know that his thinking was not all that far fetched.

  
He approached the barn as stealthily as the kitchen the night before. He didn't want to startle anyone or catch anyone in the act of something nefarious. He didn't have the strength to deal with it. He was suddenly distracted by the neigh of a horse. He turned away from the barn door to the sounds from the stable and a small smile quirked at his lips. He walked briskly to the stables and came upon a massive black stallion in his stall. He was a majestic creature, sleek and shiny coat that was black as ink or midnight. Norman was enraptured.

  
"Hello, boy." He said and put his hand out.

  
The horse breathed hot breath through its nostrils the cold air misting around him. He pawed the ground and looked at Norman. He nuzzled his hand looking for food.

  
"I'm sorry boy, I don't have anything." Norman looked around for his feed, but he found nothing. The horse watched him and neighed again.

  
"I see you've met Mesrour, Dr. Lecter said out of the shadows. He stepped into the light. His eyes had a strange look about them this morning, more so than usual. "He is a magnificent beast, but I'm afraid he is in need of a bit of exercise. He's quite trapped in these confines."

Dr. Lecter tossed an apple to Norman. Norman caught it and brought it to the horse's mouth. He smiled as he fed him. He brought a hand up to stroke his neck. "He's beautiful, and he's exactly like Mr. Rochester's horse," Norman said his eyes shining brightly.

  
"Indeed," Dr. Lecter smiled widely. "You know Jane Eyre?"

  
Norman bit his lip and looked away from the horse, and the doctor. "You could say it has a special meaning to me. I hold certain principles of the story close to my heart."

  
"Tell me, " Lecter said his voice suddenly hypnotic, compelling.

  
"I can't..."

  
"Are you afraid to admit that you're in love with her?" A soft voice in his ear.

  
"How can you say that to me?" Norman swung around to face Dr. Lecter. His eyes filled with rage, ready to strike, ready to lash out again at the thought of someone else accusing him, harassing him, mocking him about feelings he couldn't even decipher on his own, couldn't put into words, couldn't wrap his mind around, refusing to finally give in and admit. "I've almost killed someone else for insinuating less than that."

  
"Do you want her, Norman? Do you think she wants you, sexually? True, she is much older, and your mother, but do you visualize scenarios, exchanges, fucking her?"

  
Norman stared at him, mouth agape. He couldn't make his brain form the words, but the doctor had tapped his soul and in the deepest corners of his being, he couldn't find an argument to pose in objection.

  
"She....she told me it was normal." He said mostly to himself.

  
"Was it normal to kill your father? Is it normal to keep wanting her after all these years? How many have you killed in her name?"

  
"I'm not talking about this anymore...," Norman said pushing past him. He couldn't believe what was happening, what was going on? Even Dr. Edwards didn't delve into this territory with him. He didn't want to face it.

  
"DON'T walk away from me, Norman," Lecter said with authority. It stopped Norman in his tracks as he was making his way back to the house.

  
"I DIDN'T KILL my father! I don't know where you've gotten your information. He had an accident." Norman faltered in keeping with the lie..the confusion that he had lived with.

  
"You wanted him conveniently out of the way so that you could get to her. You've coveted your mother for a long time I wager. So much to the point that you've created another being in her image. The one you run to when things become too stressful, too much for you to handle. I've seen her."

  
"NO! It's not true. She's my mother and I love her, yes. I would do anything for her. I even left her so that she could be happy without me."

  
"You feel you've committed the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate martyrdom so that she could be with someone new and reject your offer of more than any son should want to give to his mother in a more conventional relationship. Tell me...are you...in love...with her? Dr. Lecter's breath was billowing out before him almost wrapping Norman in it, surrounding him.

  
You're trapped in your confines, just like Mesrour. You are a magnificent creature waiting to break free. You don't know how to express it other than rage and denial. These other personas that you create, that you see, that you hear that you let take over when you cannot cope, they are merely a way of masking what you want, what you desire what you've been suppressing. Your desire for her. Your impotence in coming to completion. Admit that to me. Admit that to yourself."

  
Norman's face had turned an unnatural shade of purple, the vein in his neck was protruding and every word from the doctor's mouth hit him with a blow of realization over and over. _'You know what you have to do...'_ He screamed in pent up rage and agony. It rose from his toes and pushed through his throat and out of his mouth. "I HATE YOU. I HATE HIM. I HATE HER. How COULD she do that to me? God, I LOVE her so much it is tearing me apart! I NEED her, ok? YOU WIN! Is that what you want to hear?! Do you think I LIKE living this way? I WANT her...I want her so bad it's KILLING me!"

  
Norman broke free from the Doctor's hypnotic hold and ran for the house. He ran hard and fast. He ran past the house. He kept running. It was hard to push through the calf-deep snow, but it felt good. He pushed and pushed until he tripped over something and fell into the snow at the end of the road. He put his heated face into the snow and his sobs wracked his body. He cried for every loss of life, every thought of ending his own, every beautiful moment he had ever spent with his mother that seemed so far away, never to have, never to hold, never to be the one and only important thing in her life. Forever...

  
Dr. Lecter looked after the boy, seeing him come to terms with who he truly was and what he truly wanted. "Thank you, he whispered. Thank you."


	15. Enjoy The Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Norman needed it!

Later that day after Norman had returned to the house, cleaned himself up and calmed down, he went to search out the Doctor so that he could confront him about the accusations that were leveled at him. He wanted to get things off of his chest before he just let what was said slide under the carpet. He looked around the first level of the home, hoping to run into Lecter in a corridor. The house looked emptier as if his presence filled the house in each and every corner when he was there.

Norman felt he was alone here, finally, but he couldn't be sure. He approached a closed door and tapped on it hoping that he wouldn't find the doctor unavailable. He stepped into the darkened room and turned on the light. It was the Doctor's study. Norman marveled at the wall to wall books that stretched to the ceiling. He quickly made sure that the Lecter wasn't lurking in the shadows before he went further into the room.

The doctor was apparently out. Norman felt a wave of bravery wash over him as he moved into the room, taking in the extravagance of the surroundings. He felt small by comparison and he was impressed by the mahogany desk that was twice the size of the one in his office at the hospital. He ran a hand along the fine leather of the couch, feeling it's impossible softness. He noted that the study, like Lecter's office at the hospital, was decorated in a similar fashion of medical oddities and rare finds. Some of his items bordered on the freak show, as there were several jars filled with liquids and some sort of body parts in them. Norman studied one that looked like a large tongue, possibly from a cow in some green liquid. He came across an old scalpel kit that had four or five rusty scalpels in the slots and an antique denture mold. In the corner stood a quiver with some feathered arrows sticking out of it.

Norman shook his head. He could spend all day in here finding treasures. He approached the desk seeing a crystal paperweight he wanted to get a closer look at. As he went to pick it up he spotted the doctor's appointment book. Norman could never help his curious streak as he set aside the paperweight to read anything the doctor might have written about him. Many pages of the appointment book were blank. There were few spaces filled out with meetings for this and that and a few names circled. He saw an entry marked census taker with the word "liver" penciled in beside it. He flipped a page and noted that there was another entry for a Will Graham at an upcoming date. Lecter had penciled in the word "heart" beside it. Norman wondered what it meant. Norman flipped another page and saw his name written on an entry for the following week. Beside his name was penciled in "soul".

Norman dropped the book back on the desk. It felt as if the room was breathing, rasping out loudly. He realized it was he that was suddenly unnerved. His hands shook as he looked around for what had startled him. Nothing was staring back at him, save the large old owl in the high corner. His eyes were trained on Norman and his talons exposed as if ready to strike. Norman suddenly felt like he had stumbled upon something he should not have. The room became three shades darker. Norman put a hand to his head, he felt dizzy and needed to lie down. He stared at the word "soul" on the page and it grew bigger, swimming on the page. He felt the room watch him as he tried to move toward the door. On the outer corner of the desk was a piece of parchment paper left lying open as if expecting Norman to read it. He eased his way over to the paper, feeling nauseous. It was addressed to him.

_Norman:_

_By now you may realize my absence. I have some meetings and patients to attend to and I will not be returning home until some time later this evening. I also am attending a concert where one of my patients, Benjamin Raspail will be the solo flautist, although I find this was a very bad choice on the part of the conductor._

_We will talk about this morning's events when I return._

_Please feel free to make yourself at home, but do not wander too far off of the grounds. You will not be pleased with the consequences._

_Ta Ta._

_H_

Norman never felt more like a trapped animal in a cage. He left the room and went back upstairs. He was suddenly overcome by waves of drowsiness. He barely was able to make it to the bed before falling on to it, the blackness taking over.

\-----

"Wake up, Norman...." A shaking on his arm. Norman struggled to break through the depths of his subconsciousness. It felt like he were swimming upwards and running out of breath but was still too far away from the surface. He pushed harder but was still struggling against the layers.

"I...I....help me!" He said with his mind. His mouth trying to form the words. He was paralyzed by the sleep spell he was under.

"Norman...I'm here....I need you to wake up and look at me."  The voice was soft but urgent.

Norman gasped for air and tried to force his eyes open. He reached for whatever he could grasp hold of and he found a bare shoulder, warm and velvety to his touch. He wrinkled his brow in confusion and felt down the arm to a hand, delicate and feather soft. He would know that touch anywhere. A tear formed in the corner of his eye and he relaxed in relief. His eyes opened on their own accord at the recognition of who was sitting beside him. Her hand lay on his chest. He reached to touch her fingers, lacing his own with hers and she rubbed her thumb along his forefinger.

"I've missed you so much," Norman said into the darkness. He smiled watery tears in his eyes. "Mother..."

"Oh Honey...if you only knew how much I wanted to see you, to be with you."

"Where were you. Why did you leave me?"

"It doesn't matter I'm here now. You brought me back." She leaned over and kissed him softly on the mouth.

Norman remembered the conversation he had had with Lecter earlier that morning. He felt a rush of shame and turned his head away from her lips. She threaded her fingers through his hair, smoothing the strands away from his forehead and tracing a fingertip along the side of his face making him turn back and face her. She was still shrouded in shadows, and Norman was afraid to look at her, feeling the way he did. He wanted to touch her but dared not because of the way Lecter had forced him to realize how he truly felt about her...not her.... _her_. Norman sat up on the bed and looked at his mother as if seeing her for the first time. She was there as he first saw her, long blonde hair, silky blouse open a few buttons, a skirt, and sensible shoes. He reached over to flick on the bedside lamp but she stilled his hand. "Don't...I want you to feel me....remember me."

She took his hand and placed it over her heart. He could feel her warmth, her heart beating, her alive underneath his skin. He rubbed her flesh with his thumb and felt her pulse quicken. He shared an equal reaction. She brought her face closer to his again and placed small kisses along the corner of his lips and along his jaw. He closed his eyes to her kisses and it was beginning to create a heated response in him. He gently pushed her away. "I can't..." 

"Why, she said as she began playing with the bottom of Norman's shirt trying to untuck it from his pants. I'm sensing that this is what you want from me."

"No...I....I don't know what I want. I don't know what I feel." Norman said quietly. It was hard for him to concentrate or speak. Her mouth had returned to kissing him softly up to his ear.

"Are you in love with me?" She sighed.

He opened his eyes and looked at her in shock. She had changed back into the seductress, looking like Marilyn Monroe, in a black silk slip, platinum blonde curls and bright red lipstick against pale skin.

He wanted to push her away, but found himself pulling her closer to him, the dizzying effect she had on him, made him tingle from his toes to his head.

"It's been so long...." she said.

"Too long..." He agreed. He watched himself as he fingered the strap of her negligee and slipped it off of her shoulder. He looked back into her eyes and she emoted sheer desire for him to continue.

"I know how to make it all better." She said in almost a purr.

Norman closed his eyes and began kissing her on the curve of her shoulder giving in to what he wanted the most, damn every last thought in his brain. He wanted this. She bared her neck to him has he continued kissing her along the ivory column treating her like delicate glass, so gentle lest she break into a million pieces and disappear.

"Mother..."he whispered as he reached her lips and finally allowed himself to possess what he wanted. "I love you so much." He said between kisses.

"Show me..." She said hungrily for more. She had worked his shirt away from his pants and was lifting it above Norman's head, he quickly tore it from him and tossed it into the darkness of the room. He remembered the time when he was with Bradley in the hotel room and his mother was watching him as he was trying to make love to her...make love as his mother watched, make love to him. It nearly pushed him over the edge the way he had wanted her then, wanted Bradley to be her, needed to feel her underneath him as she was now.

Norman pushed her back onto the bed and pressed his bare chest against her. "Do you remember?" He said, voice thick with lust.

"I am a part of you...I can't forget." She brought her hands up to the sides of his head. "But you know I'm MUCH better." She brought his head down to hers and kissed him full and deep. Norman moaned with the release of all the pent-up frustrations he had been feeling for weeks.

 _'I need this...' N_ orman said convincing himself. ' _I_ _t's not her...'_

"Whatever helps you get through the night..." She smiled at him as she raked her red fingernails up his back. He had a leg resting between hers and brushed up against her as she scratched him. She tugged at his earlobe. "Naughty boy." Norman grabbed her hands and laced their fingers pushing them above her head trapping her.

"I want you to be real..."

"I am...she said as she thrust up against him. She felt his shudder through her body. "Did that feel real?"

"Mnn..." He breathed as he covered her face in kisses moving to her chest and burying himself in her cleavage, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her tightly against him. He just needed to believe that she wasn't going to leave him again.

She was never one for the romantic, lovey-dovey mush. She wanted his body as she was the carnal, ID of him and didn't allow for much of the love business unless she could get her way out of it. She flipped him over and he lay prone beneath her. She pushed his shoulders back and straddled him. She trailed her red lacquered nails down his smooth chest stopping at his belt. He had grown hard at the first touch and this aggressiveness only amplified his need for her.

"Mother...what are you doing?" Norman said as she continued her downward path. He closed his eyes and pushed his head into the pillow as she moved against him. He felt her through the material. His heart was racing. He didn't want this to stop, but he knew he would have to face the guilt of his actions the next day.

"I'm doing whatever you want me to do, honey." _'You know what you have to do.'_

Norman growled deep in his throat. He was tired of this Tete e Tete he had a lot of pent up emotions running through him and he was just so tired of dealing with trying to be the "good boy" He wanted to be bad. He wanted to be naughty.

His mother knew what he wanted before he did. She laughed as he rolled her back over on her back and tore at her panties to get at her. She undid his belt and whipped it away from him. She bit her bottom lip and he pushed her slip above her waist. "Don't hold back...." She laughed into the top of his head as he situated himself against her and heard the sounds of Dr. Lecter's voice in his head. _"Do you imagine yourself......"_

Norman shuddered as he came into the empty bedsheets. For the brief fleeting seconds of his orgasm, he allowed his mind to soar far and away and only the thoughts of his mother...not her..... _her_....filled his senses.

"I want to go home." He said as he fell into a deep sleep with no dreams.

 


	16. Don't Fear the Reaper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love of two is one  
> Here but now they're gone  
> Came the last night of sadness  
> And it was clear she couldn't go on  
> Then the door was open and the wind appeared  
> The candles blew then disappeared  
> The curtains flew then he appeared, saying don't be afraid  
> Come on baby, and she had no fear  
> And she ran to him, then they started to fly  
> They looked backward and said goodbye, she had become like they are  
> She had taken his hand, she had become like they are  
> Come on baby, don't fear the reaper...

Two nights later~

  
Norman had seen little of Dr. Lecter in the time he had come to in his bed the morning after his mother's visit until now. It was always in fleeting moments as the doctor was in and out with appointments and meetings. He had grown accustomed to being left on his own in this big empty house and he walked through it as if he were one of the shadows or stuffed animals hiding in and around the corners. He kept an odd little smile playing along his features as he knew that he wasn't fully alone during this time. She was there with him, hiding in a mirror, peeking around the corner, touching his arm as he walked by. Thankfully the doctor had eased up on his prying into his private thoughts.

  
Dr. Lecter seemed to be just as elusive as he had become. There were times when he turned a corner and the doctor would be standing in the hallway in a beam of sunlight his eyes would flash menacingly in his direction and even though he wanted to approach, Norman would watch as he turned and walked away into his study or his room. Norman didn't care he had other things on his agenda.

  
He had spent a lot of the time going down to the stables and taking care of Mesrour. He loved to brush his sleek black coat, and the horse felt comfortable enough to let Norman feed him and pat him. He often looked into the horse's eyes and imagined what it must be like for him to be caged. He remembered the doctor's words and it was true. Norman felt as if he were in a similar, yet bigger cage of his own. He wanted to free him. To be free with him. The horse would stamp the earth and neigh loudly when Norman had to leave. One of Lecter's staff had informed him that he could, eventually be able to take him through his paces if it was permissible by the doctor. At least he had something more to look forward to.

  
He had formulated a plan on how to leave Dr. Lecter's house and return back home to his mother. He realized that absolutely nothing would "cure him" as it were, than to be back home with her, no matter what the odds were. He knew he couldn't stay away from her, even if it meant using his BEST acting skills and just avoiding Romero at all costs. He had put his acting to the test when he got out of Pineview the first time. He needed to redouble his efforts this time. His 'mother' had given him the strength and the will to do so and he knew he could no longer fight her presence as well. Maybe he could now work with her instead of against her. He wouldn't accuse anyone of killing anyone anymore. He knew he was responsible for it all. Maybe if he lie low, everyone would just forget about it and they could go on with their lives.

Norman thought back to Romero...touching his mother....the way he looked at her....the intrusive presence of him always there, always in the way....He willed the thoughts back down. It wasn't going to be easy. It never would.

  
He just needed to talk to her again. He just needed to know that she missed him as much as he missed her. It had been over a month, enough time to think about things and enough time to be apart. This was the longest they had been apart in forever. In the deepest parts of Norman, there was a black hole, a dark pit that kept growing bigger and bigger swallowing him up and he realized it was his mother's absence that was causing the hole to widen and expand. He knew she had to be feeling the same way. He knew if he was able to contact her he could convince her that she should not leave her son in the charge of a madman. He now believed that Dr. Lecter did him more harm than good. There was always a snake-like quality about him that Norman knew he would not be able to overcome if it came down to a battle between the two.

  
\-----

Norma Bates had spent the last three weeks in denial and avoidance. When she had to go into town she kept a low profile. Gone were her days of trying to win the town over in hopes to keep her motel open. The new bi-pass was nearly completed to her abject dismay and now she was contemplating closing up shop altogether. She didn't have many friends left in town and she didn't feel like she wanted to talk to any of them anyway. They all threw suspicious glances in her direction, even though she STILL was the Sheriff's wife. She had heard some rumors that he was getting in deep with the whole Bob Paris situation and she couldn't help but feel more than partially responsible for that as well. She shook her head. _'I had nothing to do with that.'_ He had the flash drive, and whatever else had happened between the two was his business.

  
Did she want to see him? Did she need to see him? She found herself having to think hard for excuses to even go to town and perhaps bump into him. She didn't want the thoughts of him moving on with his life clouding her mind because she couldn't seem to move on with hers. Her sons had abandoned her, she had forced him out with almost no hopes for returning and now she was just an empty shell of her former powerful presence, her control over the situation was no longer and she was just left with no one to wield herself on. She was too tired to even create the drama anymore and it seemed as if the drama had left her far behind. She picked up a few groceries at the market and looked down the street toward the police station. She should stop in and see how he was.

  
Just when she had set her mind to storming in the office and starting an argument, a voice caught her attention.

"Norma....Bates..." It said haltingly muddled with pain and dullness.

She looked across the street at the figure sitting on a patio chair outside of the diner. It was hunched over and covered in its usual garb of rags and bandanas. His staff was recognizable anywhere.

"Hi...Chick." Norma said as resigned as she was.

"Come....sit with me for a moment." He beckoned her with a fingerless gloved hand that still looked no better from her last encounter with him. He always looked as if in need of a good hosing down. His beard was still matted and tangled and yet he still carried that air of mystery about him as if he were an odd fitting puzzle piece that somehow managed to squeeze itself into place.

Norma sighed. "I really can't...I'm just on my way to...."

"Come on...it won't take but a minute. Spare some time for the man your brother beat the crap out of."

"You mean you're still not healed from that?" Norma said raising an eyebrow and made her way over to the diner the sun highlighting her but returning behind clouds as she sat in the shadows with this strange creature.

Chick smiled at her showing some green teeth and some missing teeth. Norma could barely look at him without cringing. She used to feel sorry for him, but now it was all she could do to tolerate five minutes with him, knowing what he almost tried to do to her. But they were on even playing fields and she was no longer afraid of him or what he could do to her. He took a sip from his coffee cup and offered her something from a thermos he had kept with him. She shook her head.

"One can never quite heal from the damage inflicted on by another human being, Norma Bates. Physical or emotional." He looked at her pointedly. Norma played with the collar of her blouse. She tried to level him with a cold look but it faltered.

"Life has been kind of a lonely place for you lately, hasn't it." Chick said more of a statement than a question.

"I have no idea what you mean..." Norma said avoidance her best tactic in her bag of tricks.

"You see...I'm an observer....I see things... that maybe a lot of other people don't see." Chick straightened his broken glasses on his nose. "I've noticed lately when you're in town you don't seem to be accompanied by your sons....the younger one....and Dylan. I also notice you don't have your arm wrapped around the Sheriff's and it has been a long time since I've seen the two of you together..." He paused as he noticed Norma gripping the tablecloth. Her face was becoming sterner.

"I don't know why the hell that's any of your business...are you stalking me or something?" She started to raise her voice, not afraid of causing a scene.

"Now...calm down....I'm not trying to get your panties in a wad..." Chick said raising a hand in mock defense. "You know it's a small town....people know things about everyone, no matter how many secrets they have."

"Yes, but what is your point?" Norma said standing up...this was going nowhere as far as she was concerned. He was always spouting some kind of bullshit that made no sense to anyone but him.

He grabbed her wrist suddenly locking her down to the table. "Don't....let yourself get cold, Norma Bates. Don't let the light die inside of you. You need people. You need someone to hold onto like an anchor so that you don't lose yourself. You...need...to live."

He let go of her hand and she stood there looking at him, looking at him as if he opened her life's book and read every page. He had returned to looking at his cup and taking a thoughtful sip.

"Why do you care?" She asked more to herself than to him.

He spoke to the table refusing to look back at her. "Because people need you...your son...your husband. Bring them home."

\------

Norman paced his spacious bedroom. He had flipped through a few books, nothing interesting him. He looked at the fine craftsmanship of the taxidermied animals that were left in his room. He noted some techniques he could use on his own if he were ever able to work on anything again. He missed the feel of an animal under his hands, bringing it back to "life" was the challenge. He thought of the blood, the blood that covered everything when he drained it from a creature he was working on. There was so much that was left behind from something that had died. He flashed back to the blood in the snow. He was almost convinced that's what it was, but what did it come from? Was it from one of these animals...a new "pet" or something else. He needed to find out. He had his suspicions. The doctor was not being entirely honest with him. He decided to to go the barn and put his mind at rest. He had dressed, got a flashlight and slipped out into the night.

Dr. Lecter was hosting a small dinner party gathering that evening and he was apparently not invited. He had stopped by Norman's room earlier that day and informed him that he was entertaining some members of the Baltimore Philharmonic Orchestra and that he would have some dinner brought up to his room later that evening. Norman studied the Doctor's eyes and Lecter winked back at him. "I do apologize my dear boy for being rather absent lately. I have had a lot on my plate." He laughed at an inside joke and patted Norman on his arm. "Don't think for a minute I have forgotten you and our talk. I do believe we are making real progress." He smiled a smile full of white sharp teeth and abruptly turned and left him.

  
It was deathly silent, the snow causing a vacuum on the noise and the only thing Norman could hear were the sounds of his shoes, shushing through the snow. He looked up at the moonlight and it cast an eerie glow against the snow. There was nothing to see around him but trees and the looming house behind him. The lights were glowing in most of the windows the golden glow combating the bright moonlight.

The front of the house was well lit with the moon and window light...however as Norman turned the corner, the rest of the world fell to blackness. Little patches of moonlight shown through here and there but not enough to find a clear path. Norman switched on his flashlight and shown it in the direction of the barn which was about three yards behind the house. It was an ominous presence against the sky. Norman swallowed hard and tried to remember where exactly Dr. Lecter was at the moment. There were several cars out in the front of the yard most of the expensive kind. Norman had passed by the dining room on his way out of the house and saw that it was full of people chatting away about this and that and Lecter serving an expensive bottle of wine. It was the weekend and all of his staff had left the day before, as Lecter preferred to be the gracious host for the evening. He began to perspire even though it was freezing outside. He knew he would be left undeterred from his mission while the doctor was entertaining but he was still a bundle of nerves inside. Somehow again, he felt as if he was sneaking into something that would be the end of him later.

He felt as if there was someone else with him, just as curious as he was to find out what secrets the doctor held, hiding along the edges of his mind. She gave him the courage to continue on to the barn, urging him with her unending confidence. _'You know what you have to do.'_

He threw a glance at the silent stables and wished that Mesrour would give him luck and the strength to go through with his quest. What was he expecting to find? What would he do if he found it? Norman shown the flashlight around the area making sure he didn't see any animals coming at him, a cougar or bobcat...what kinds of animals lurked in the night in the middle of nowhere? He heard no sounds and approached the barn door. He was expecting to find some kind of lock on the door and he was right. It had appeared to be padlocked with a heavy lock and chain and Norman cursed inwardly. _'Find a window...'_ the voice instructed him. He smiled and began to shine the flashlight upwards looking for a low window that may have been left open.

  
He didn't want to be found shimmying into a window in the front of the barn so he moved his way around to the back. He noticed that the barn, like the rest of the grounds, were well kept. There were no straggling bushes or debris lying around and he was certain there were going to be no carelessly unlocked windows anywhere. He could only hope to be wrong on that point. He didn't know why this was important to him, but he had to know. He peered into a low window at the back of the barn. He looked about him and there was still no one around that was paying any mind to a curious young man who, left to his own devices, would bring the trouble to him. He tried the window but it would not budge. Norman sighed in frustration. He thought a moment more and put the flashlight in his mouth. He took off his overcoat and wrapped it around his elbow. One last glance back to the house.

  
The sound of shattering glass was muffled again by the outside density of the snow and his jacket. He took the flashlight out of his mouth and shown it into the darkened barn. He could see nothing outside of the small pool of light his flashlight created. "It's now or never, Juno." He said to the dog who had been there for him through it all. When and if he got back home he would hug her close to him. He also thought of his mother. Where she was. What she was doing? He put her out of his mind as he made sure the glass was cleared enough from the window and he slid down into the room.

\------

Norma stared out of her window in her bedroom. The curtains billowed around her as a breeze was moving through the air. Her arms were folded and she was looking into the evening twilight. She was preoccupied with thoughts of her day. She was letting Chick's words sink into her, infiltrate her senses. She wanted them back. This was too much for her to bear. She knew she may never have a chance to win Romero back. The thought of him made her twist the ring on her finger. She wondered if he thought about her, on nights like these. She had shared a love with him like she had never felt with a man before. She trusted him. Even despite all that he had done to her, driving her son away, she trusted him with her heart. She knew all she had to do was pick up her phone and he would be there in an instant. Her hand reached into her pocket for her cell and his was the first number in her contacts list. She decided to text him instead of hearing his voice. She just wanted to know if he still cared. She typed in two words. "Do you?" and hit the send button.

  
She thought of Norman. Truthfully, he was screaming around in her mind the most at this moment. Something was wrong. She could feel it in her bones. She stared out into the night and she could almost see him standing at the edge of the road. She started. Was it him? She shook her head and the figure disappeared. She put her hand to her heart. She needed to talk to him now. Something was not right and damn everything in this world if she could not find him and hold him close to her. She went back to her bedside table and began flipping through her appointment book. There was a number somewhere she could call. Someone who could get her in touch with her son. She needed him now. A panic had begun to take over.

  
_Everything is lost_  
_And this nightmare's closing in_  
_Everything is lost_  
_There's a sorrow beneath my skin_  
_This is the end... of me_  
_This is the end of me_  
\-----

Norman righted himself in the dark room. He had tripped over some kind of shelf or stool that was beneath the window. It had caused him to skin his hands and he brushed the pain away against his pant legs. He shown his flashlight to one corner of the room. Along the wall were the typical farmer's tools of the trade, shovels, hoes, pickaxes, rakes, and on the bench in front of the wall, toolboxes of various shapes and sizes, hammers, buckets. Norman tapped his flashlight noticing that it was beginning to sputter. There must not have been enough battery energy to keep it working.

"Damn..." He muttered to himself. He walked a few paces letting the flashlight go ahead of him on the ground. The floor appeared to be spotless. There were some bales of hay stacked neatly against another wall. He shown his flashlight to the far opposite wall near the barn door and saw something dark, unrecognizable hanging from somewhere above. Norman couldn't make out what it was hanging down almost eye-to-eye level with him. He shown the flashlight on the ground in front of the shape and noticed another dark pool of something on the concrete floor.

  
He crept closer to the object in the middle of the room. His heart was racing. He could hear it echoing off of the barn walls. A steady pounding in his head, his ears. He swallowed hard and it was like the room again was listening to the sounds of silence, waiting...anticipating....He reached his hand out and touched it.

  
He recoiled his hand back as it felt to him like something leathery, something like chicken skin. It was pliable under his touch. He closed his eyes, gathering all the strength he had remaining in him and took the flashlight and shown it directly on the object. What he saw, made him bring his fist to his mouth and bite down on a scream that shattered the silence. He had dropped the flashlight and it spun on the floor coming to rest again on the....thing....causing a shadow of it to appear on the wall behind him.

  
Norman looked dead on at an upside-down corpse. It was suspended by the ankles, trussed up like a deer that had been gutted. It had a large gash going from its pelvis to its sternum all the insides were out. Norman was shaking he had fallen to the ground trying desperately to grab the flashlight and get the hell out of there. He didn't want to see a face... no....he didn't want to know....His eyes went there on their own accord. He couldn't stop himself. His breath was coming out in shallow gasps, wheezing....where the head should be...there was none.

  
Norman scrabbled for the flashlight finding it...it sputtered once again into darkness. "Damn it!" he cried in a panicked voice. He banged on the side of the flashlight hoping to get enough light to find his way back to the window and out of this place. He knew now that he had to run away altogether. He could not stay here a moment longer. His deepest inside gut feelings were true. Dr. Lecter was a madman. He was insane.

  
The flashlight flickered back on for a moment more. Norman lifted up the flashlight to get his bearings and he came face to face with Lecter. The doctor's features looked completely evil in the glow of the flashlight. His face casting shadows of his maddening, gleeful smile.

"Good evening, Norman." He said, the words dripping malicious malcontent.

  
The world went into darkness again as Norman felt something blunt and hard hit him in the back of the head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three guess who the body belongs to, and the first two don't count... Ta Ta...


	17. End Game Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, I've got thick skin and an elastic heart,  
> But your blade - it might be too sharp  
> I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard,  
> Yeah, I may snap and I move fast  
> But you won't see me fall apart  
> 'Cause I've got an elastic heart

_He had awoken briefly realizing that he was being dragged somewhere. He was cold. His hands and his back felt wet. Where was he? He looked around for who was dragging him and saw someone's back. They were heading toward the back of the house. He tried to find his voice but couldn't the pain was too great at the back of his head. It was completely dark but he had noticed the squares of gold illuminating the snow in patches. They were close. They came to a set of stairs with a door at the bottom of it. Whoever was dragging him gave no thought to his head as he had felt each step hit him in the back of the head. thunk...Thunk...THUNK...fortunately the snow cushioned his descent marginally. The door opened and he was drug to the middle of the floor. His feet fell to the ground and he lay there, unable to move._  
_Norman blinked through the haze in his brain. Everything was blurry. He couldn't make his eyes come into focus. Someone was looming over him. He couldn't make out anything in detail. Just blurry shapes. His head was throbbing. He tried to move but he was trapped under something_. "Stay still..." _Someone was whispering. He passed out again._

  
Pain. Blinding Pain. Screaming in his brain. Visions of his mother. Dancing with him in the yard. Spinning him around. Chasing him through the meadow behind their house. He was older not his younger self. Running to find her. The pain shocked through his system again. The images shuttered to his mother...not his mother...slamming the trunk lid down on Bradley once again...slamming the freezer lid down on Emma's mom. She screamed in rage. Norman held onto her hand but it was being wrenched away from him in his mind.

  
"Norman....don't fight it." A vaguely familiar voice spoke close to his ear. He tried to speak but it sounded tinny and in the distance, like coming through an old fashioned radio. He wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere. A noise from above. The pain ceased. Hot breath on his face. _'Can't see...leave me alone....where am I...SAVE ME!'.........I'll always be there for you...I'll always protect you, no matter what....remember that..."_

  
"I'm afraid you've really caught me at an inopportune time." The voice said low to his ear. "I am still entertaining company, it's unfortunate you decided to go exploring where you shouldn't have and came upon one of my many hobbies. I am sorry I am not able to make you more comfortable until I return, but I will be back to finish you off momentarily."

  
Lecter moved to the basement stairs and made his way to the top of them. He shut the door to the only light source from above, pitching the entire room into darkness. Norman could not find his way past the blackness of his mind. His mother was there keeping him at bay, taking on the pain he only vaguely felt if he struggled out of focus. She bore his pain for him as he felt she had in childbirth. _'Are you hurt, mother?'_ He whispered in his head.

  
_No light, no light in your bright blue eyes....You can't choose what stays and what fades away._

  
\--------

  
Norma had found the number she was looking for. It was Dr. Edwards business card. He had scribbled his cell number on the back of it when he had given it to her on one of her visits. She had no intentions of calling him and disturbing him before, she had needed Norman to get the help he needed and she didn't want to become a nuisance, even though he told her she could call anytime. Norma was urgent now because she needed to hear her son's voice. Call it maternal instinct, call it the bond that would never be broken but she needed to know her son was ok. She dialed Dr. Edward's number and prayed that he would answer the phone.

  
After a couple of rings a strained voice answer from the other line. "Yes...?"

  
"Hello...hello? Dr. Edwards?" Norma said desperation in her voice.

  
"Yes...who is this?"

  
"It's Norma Bates here."

  
A pause of silence. "Mrs. Bates. I can't talk to you. I'm sorry...I...just can't."

  
"Wait...what...what happened, Dr. Edwards...don't hang up the phone. I need to talk to you... I need to know how I can get ahold of my son. Where's Norman? I never got any contact information...I haven't spoken to him since he left here. Please...I need to talk to him."

  
Another pause. "You don't know what your son has done."

  
"No...no...what happened?"

  
Dr. Edwards didn't want to go into any detail with her. He heard her panic in her voice, and as ever the consummate doctor he was, felt sympathy for her plight. She didn't deserve his coldness or anger because of her son's illness. He just wanted to be done with the whole sordid business. He looked through the paperwork he had kept in a file and found the number to the Johns Hopkins Hospital psychiatric ward. He told her the number. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Bates. I wish I could do more for you, but your son is where he needs to be right now. He is a very sick and troubled young man. I know Dr. Lecter will give him the help he deserves. I wish you the best. Good night."

  
Norma stared at the number she had written down. She guesstimated the time and hurried to place another call.

\-----

  
_She reached down to her side and felt something wet, oozing and dripping from it. She brought it up to her eyes and focussed on it. Life coursing through her fingers, dripping onto the hard cement floor. The pain brought her to life. The shock kept her angry. She was not going to be defeated by this nothing of a man...this wanna be monster. She was the only monster she knew. She had the only power and energy that kept them both alive...kept them survivors. Nothing would happen to her or the shell she inhabited if she had her say on the matter. Her rage made her mobile. She struggled to sit up and felt something fall into her hand. "Fuck..." she cried out. The pain was almost unbearable but she fought against it. She felt around the dark room. There had to be a light switch, a cord, something that could shed some light on the situation._

  
_She felt around the wall until her hand came across a switch. She switched it on and a fluorescent light in the middle of the room flickered on and she was left standing in an eerie white glow. A trail of blood followed her from the middle of the room. She needed something to stop the flow Her hand was covered in it from the large, neat gash at her abdomen. She found his abandoned jacket on the floor where he had lain. She stumbled back over to it. The blood was coming faster now. She couldn't allow herself to get woozy and pass out. She needed to free them. She heard sounds from above. People loudly talking, saying their goodbyes, Doors closing. She didn't have much time._

  
_\------_

  
"You have reached the Johns Hopkins Hospital Mental Health ward after hours phone service, how may I help you?"

  
Norma sighed in frustration. "Yes....hello....I need to speak to my son. His name is Norman Bates. He is a patient there. Is there any way I can possibly speak to him. It's an emergency, please!" Norma paced her bedroom. She just wanted to hear his voice. She wiped away a desperate tear that slipped down her cheek.

  
"Please hold, The operator said and placed the phone on hold.

  
"Norman..." She whispered.

  
A text came through at that moment and she quickly swiped it to see who it was from. It was Romero. There was a one-word reply. "Always." Norma smiled a watery smile. She needed his strength now more than anything.

  
The operator came back on the line. "Hello? Norman Bates has been gone from this facility for over a week now. He is in the care of his physician, Dr. Hannibal Lecter."

  
Norma's hand trembled and almost dropped the phone. "I....who authorized....I...do you have his number so that I can contact him? I need to speak with my son. Please let me have his number."

  
"I'm terribly sorry, ma'am....it was under the doctor's strict orders that we do not give his number out to anyone at any time. I can take a message and have Dr. Lecter return your call when he comes to the office."

  
Norma wanted to throw her cell against her bedroom wall. "NO...I need to speak to him. I feel that my son is in danger."

  
"I will tell the doctor of your concern, I'm sorry there's nothing more that I can do here...I'm just the answering service."

  
"BITCH!!" Norma screamed into the phone and pressed the end button. What was she going to do? She looked down at the text that Alex left. It was a far-reaching hope, but it was her last one.

\-------

  
_She heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs above the basement. She jumped quickly to action. She had his jacket knotted securely at the waist where the cut was and it was staunching as much of the blood up as it could. She smiled wryly she guessed at the thought of that bastard wanting to be meticulous and doing the job slow. He hadn't gotten very far. It was enough to do damage and she didn't have much longer to hold out but it was enough to do what she had to do and do it gleefully on this sick asshole. She went to the light switch and threw the room into darkness again. Her breath was coming out shallow and she...like the room she waited in... held it. Norman stirred in her mind. He couldn't help her now. She had to keep him away. She threw more memories of his mother in front of him and allowed her to lead him off into a beautiful forest, showering him with light and love and serenity. Norman went willingly...he missed her so much._

  
_She never showed the slightest hint of fear as his footsteps neared the bottom of the steps. She knew no fear. Her only fear was non-existence. She was not going to be erased for some sick twist's curiosity. She had won the battle over being overmedicated into oblivion, now she was back, stronger than ever and that was HIS mistake. She was ready for him._

  
The door squeaked open and he stood illuminated in the upstairs light. He exuded an evil presence. He took a few steps into the room, calm and cat-like. When he allowed the monster to take over him he was unfazed by the thought of his death, his pain, his safety. That was a part of the compromise he made to himself after seeing so much death in his life. He lived above it. It could possibly be his undoing but he never allowed himself to think that far ahead. He didn't bother turning on the light at the wall. He knew his way in the darkness. He knew exactly where he had left Norman...his prey. He made his way softly to the opposite side of the room where he had kept a workbench for his "creations" and his tools. He was going to make something extraordinary with this one.

  
He flicked on the overhead light above his bench, wanting to bring him around to consciousness slowly. He wanted to bask in his blood, not unlike Elizabeth Bathory did to her 600 peasant girl victims. He needed his youth and vitality. His essence and his soul. He turned around to look at the floor behind him. He saw the puddle of blood soaking into the floor, but no body.

\-------

  
"Alex...."

  
He heard the desperation in her voice. He was instantly concerned. "Norma...what is it? What's the matter?"

  
"Alex...you have to help me. You have to help me find him."

  
"Slow down, Norma...what's going on? Find who?"

  
"Norman....I....he's in trouble. You have to help me get to him!!!"

  
Romero sighed into the phone. He had given her space. He had left her alone. When he saw her text, he thought she had wanted to talk about them. He missed her beyond words. He missed the way she looked at him in the morning as he got ready for work. He missed her body underneath his, the way she felt against him. The way she told him he made her feel secure. He shouldn't really be surprised that the first words out of her mouth after their long separation would be about her son.

  
"What do you suggest I do?" His voice was flat, reverting to the way he used to talk to her before he fell in love with her.

  
"I dunno....I need you to think...I know something is wrong with him. Don't ask me how...I just know! I tried calling him at the hospital and he's no longer there. He's with that doctor...."

  
"Ok...ok, Norma...but you still aren't telling me what you want to do."

  
"I want to go to him. I want to get him...he NEEDS me!!!" She practically screamed into the phone.

  
"Norma....listen to me.....calm down....we need to be practical here. I will do whatever you want me to do, but for tonight, you know we can't go across country on a whim."

  
Norma tried to bite back a scathing comment. She swallowed. "Please, Alex....help me."

  
"I'll make a call."

  
\------

  
"Now this is really vexing....and I'm quite pressed for time, Norman." Dr. Lecter said into the shadows. His hearing was acutely picking up the sounds in the room and was listening for any movement. All was ominously quiet.

  
He thought he heard a rustle in the far corner of the room and he advanced to it, not wanting to begin this game before it started. He hadn't anticipated ending Norman this soon and he wasn't as prepared as he needed to be. Lecter did nothing without careful planning. He didn't notice the foot come out from the shadows as he hurried over to the noise. It caught him off guard and he went sprawling onto the floor. Norman...not Norman...stepped from the shadows and stood over him.

  
"I won't let you hurt my son." She said holding her hand to her side.

  
"Ah....so here you are at last...." Lecter said smiling up at the figure above him. "Show me your wares."

  
She let out a high pitched roar as she fell on him. She had tucked away in her hand a scalpel she had found on the work bench. She was beyond seeing as she sliced at anything that got in her path. Lecter grabbed his wrists and bared his teeth. He rolled him over to where Norman was now on his back and Lecter was inches away. He took his hand and dug it into Norman's wound at his side. He wailed out in pain. Norman used the hand Lecter freed and clawed at his face. He used blind rage and adrenaline to pull himself away and run into a corner. He started throwing anything he could find in Lecter's direction. He threw boxes filled with who knew what. He threw glass things at Lecter's head and he retreated to a far wall. Lecter pushed his hair back into place and straightened his clothes.

  
"You see...nothing surprises or shocks me anymore, Norman....or Norma. I told you I would share something about myself when the time was right." He turned on the basement light as he approached. Norman was covered in his own blood, smeared on his face and a wild look in his eyes. "My sister...was the only person in this world that I cared about. Much like you do for your son. And when she was taken away and eaten by those bastards that invaded our home, I vowed to never show an ounce of remorse or concern for another human life. I vowed for a taste of revenge...and it has never been sweeter."

  
Lecter was in Norman's face when the upstairs doorbell caught his attention. It had been ringing incessantly and had traveled to the intercom box in the basement. Lecter was about to put his hands around Norman's throat when the sound gave him pause. He lashed out lightening quick and backhanded him to the ground. Norman crumpled in a heap.

  
"I won't be a moment." He said to Norman. "I seem to be quite popular this evening."

  
Lecter quickly left the room locking the door behind him. He ran up the stairs and Norman was left shaking from exertion and loss of blood on the cold concrete floor.


	18. End Game Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be an epilogue!
> 
> *scenes between Graham and Lecter borrowed from Red Dragon...I take no credit...but just a little for the build up...LOL!*

The doorbell rang again and Dr. Lecter approached it. He had returned to his normal state of calm, which came with years of practice. He was almost beyond the reaches of his control with the situation in the basement, but with a few practiced deep breaths, he was able to appear as if nothing in the world was happening and that this was just an ordinary night at home.

  
He thought that maybe one of his guests had left something behind, a purse or shaw and had come back to retrieve it. He opened the door to a pair of blue eyes and sandy blonde hair.

  
"Ah...Special Agent, Graham." Lecter said betraying the slightest hint of frustration.

  
"Hi...Dr. Lecter....sorry for stopping by so late. I was wondering if you had some time."

  
"I'm sorry...Will...you've caught me at a bad time. I'm just clearing up from a dinner party and the guests have just left. I don't like leaving a messy house. You understand."

  
"Oh...I know, doctor. This won't be but a minute. I wanted to run something by you from the case we've been working on. Can I please come in?"

  
Lecter thought of Norman lying on his basement floor. The boy would be dead by the time this visit with the FBI Profiler was finished. It was a small consolation. He wanted to see the light die in the young man's eyes. He wanted to be there for this one. He shrugged his shoulders and opened the door for Will to pass through. "Of course...let me show you to my study."

  
\------

  
Romero waiting on the line for the Baltimore Police Department to answer the phone. He felt just a tiny bit silly to be calling the police over a "feeling" that something may be wrong. He knew how he felt when someone did the same. He pinched his finger and thumb against the bridge of his nose. He realized he would go to the end of the moon and back for Norma Louise Bates. He had been living in a lifeless void for the past month, but he was too stubborn to let her admit that she had won. When she texted him those two words "Do you?" He knew exactly what she was talking about. He had asked himself the same question every day. And the answer always came back, 'Yes.'

  
"Baltimore PD...Officer Harris speaking."

  
"Yes, good evening, Officer Harris....Sheriff Alex Romero, White Pine Bay, Oregon. Listen...I'm sorry to bother you guys, but I have a cause for concern here that I really need you to follow up on."

  
"Sure, not a problem, Sheriff...what can I help you with?"

  
Romero breathed a sigh of relief at the lack of follow-up questions as to why he was calling from so far away and what would he want with his department...ad nausea.

  
Alex asked if they had known of Dr. Hannibal Lecter and was not much surprised when they answered that almost everyone in Baltimore knew of the renowned, noted psychiatrist, which made his request even harder to make. How do you tell the police they need to go to the home of such a well-liked member of their society and accuse them of some kind of crime. It was becoming ludicrous.

  
He explained to the officer what he needed and that is was a personal favor to his wife who expressed the urgency of the situation. There was hesitation on the other end of the line.

  
"You do know what you're asking of me, right Sheriff?"

  
"Please....it would really mean a lot. I will donate a hefty sum to your charity if you just went out there and checked on her son. It would put his mom's mind at ease. "

  
"Ok...we will send a car out. He lives quite a distance from the city, so it will be a while before I can report back to you."

  
"I appreciate all that you can do."

  
\------

  
Will Graham sat in the comfortable red leather chair in Dr. Lecter's study. Lecter went around to sit at his desk. Lecter wanted to hurry the young profiler out of his house as quickly as possible, but he mustn't appear too eager. Will was as sharp as a tack. He could sense anything and Lecter didn't want any undue attention drawn to him, just yet. He let him go on about the current case they were both studying together. He wryly smiled to himself, knowing that he was miles beyond the agent because Graham was on HIS trail. He had to use all of his wits to stay ahead of him and catch him at every clue and deter the young man from the path. He was forever getting into his head, confusing him. Making him question his gut instincts, his feelings. He also was closely tied to him because he knew that Will would be the only one to catch him. He was that intelligent.

  
"He used cooking terms to describe all of the parts that were removed from the victims..."

  
Lecter clued into Graham's words...he had been concentrating on how to take care of Norman, his full attention not on Will. It cost him. Suddenly a loud noise came from the floor below. It sounded like something being knocked over, something smashing. The smallest glint of recognition flittered on Lecter's face. Graham looked toward the source of the noise. "Is everything ok, Doctor?"

  
"It's fine, Will. If you will pardon me a moment. I will return and we can discuss his motives further. Won't be but a minute."

  
Lecter left the room. Will had grown curious. He walked around the study looking at the various medical abnormalities as Norman had, taking note of some of the strange things he would never expect to see in a Doctor's study. He came across a large book of medical terminology and dissection and his curiosity peaked. He touched the fine leather bound cover and opened it. He flipped through a few pages and let it fall open to the bookmarked page. There was some writing around one of the terms in the book. It said 'sweet breads'. He frowned and thought back to what he had told Lecter. The killer called the body parts he had eaten 'oysters' as if they were food....'sweet breads' as if they were food....

  
He turned around suddenly, gun drawn. Lecter slipped the stiletto deep into his stomach. "Shhhh...don't move. You're in shock now. I don't want you to feel any pain. In a moment you'll begin to be lightheaded...then drowsy."

  
Graham tried to move...to get away...the blade went deeper into him. Lecter jerked it upwards. "Don't resist...so gentle...like slipping into a warm bath, Lecter whispered into his ear. He jerked the blade up higher, causing Will to cry out and throw himself back into the bookcase. He blinked in and out of consciousness. "I regret it came to this, Will...but every game must have its ending."

  
Lecter eased Graham to the floor, carefully placing his head on the wooden floor. "Remarkable boy...he said softly, tracing a finger down the side of his face. He looked intensely into the young man's eyes....I do admire your courage." He removed the stiletto from Will's stomach, pulling it out quickly and easily. Graham hitched a painful breath. He groaned. Lecter brought the blade close again. "I think I'll eat your heart."

Seemingly out of nowhere, Graham thrust his right hand upward, jabbing something deep into Lecter's side. Lecter looked down and noticed it was the feathered arrows in the quiver that was left in the corner of the room. He was uncharacteristically surprised. He backed away, knocking over things in his path the arrow's sticking out of him like the 'Wound Man'. He backed over and bumped into his desk. He looked down and grabbed hold of the arrows sticking out of him. He was almost giddy with shock and disbelief. He looked back at Graham and came towards him. If he were to die tonight, he was taking his nemesis with him. He staggard toward the agent.

  
Will quickly rolled over to his side and grabbed the gun he carried in his ankle holster. He withdrew it with his remaining strength and shot. One....two....three....four....five times....all bullets entering Lecter's body. Graham clicked the gun until it was empty. The impact caused the doctor to fall back over his desk, his head thrown back staring blindly at the wall behind him. A bloody hand fell almost lifelessly on top of Norman's patient file, smearing the dark liquid across his name. Will Graham lowered his weapon and passed out.

  
\-------

  
"Shots fired!! SHOTS FIRED!!!" The patrolman who had turned into Lecter's driveway shouted into his CB radio.

  
"Come back...Petersen? What did you say?" The voice crackled back on the radio.

  
"Shots fired at the Lecter residence. Send backup and medical ASAP!!!"

  
Officer Petersen exited his vehicle with his gun drawn. Everything seemed normal on the outside of the large house, but he had heard the noise coming from within and the sounds of gunfire from the upstairs window. He was in over his head but he knew he had to get in there and find out what was happening.

  
He approached the front door and banged on it, shouting "BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT, OPEN THE DOOR!!" He tried the lock and was surprised that it had opened to him. He pushed through and cautiously entered the front door. The house was still lit up and it made it easier for Petersen to maneuver through the maze-like halls and rooms. He knew he had to get up the stairs where the shots had originated and he made his way to the marble staircase. He couldn't stop to marvel at the opulence before him other than to think bitterly of his small paycheck and where he lived at in town. Nothing compared. He rounded the corner of the staircase and came to the open room at the end of the hall. His gun still drawn in front of him. He spoke into the CB clipped to his shoulder. "How close is back-up....come on guys talk to me!"

  
"Backup is en route. What is your 20?"

  
"I am entering the room where the shots were fired. Oh...my....god." Petersen ended communication.

  
"Come back, Petersen. What's going on?"

  
Officer Petersen looked at the scene before him with his mouth hanging open. The doctor was thrown back over his desk looking like swiss cheese. He looked down at the floor and noticed he was stepping in a puddle of blood. He followed the trail to another person laying prone on the floor, his hand still wrapped around a gun. The room looked like something out of a horror movie.

  
"Two white males, gunshot wounds to who appears to be Hannibal Lecter and an unknown white male. Pulse checked...thready. Attempting CPR." Petersen spoke only facts. He couldn't wrap his mind around the scene in front of him.

  
"Is the other white male, Norman Bates?" The voice on the CB questioned.

  
Petersen paused in his efforts and went over to the other body. He felt the pulse and it registered a faint response. He was in over his head. He pat the man down and felt for his wallet. He pulled it out. It showed the FBI agent's badge and identification. "Holy Shit..." Petersen muttered. "This is Special Agent Will Graham of the FBI!!!" He said into his radio. There was silence on the other end.

  
A few seconds later. "You have to find Norman Bates. There could be a third victim in the house."

  
Officer Petersen let out a huge sigh of relief as he saw blue and red lights flashing from outside. He heard the sirens. He knew they were here. He ran to the landing and shouted over the side. "UP HERE!"  
He ran through the rest of the halls kicking open doors looking inside rooms. "There's a third person on the premises. He shouted to the arriving officers. Look for him!! The medical team had already made their way up the stairs to the study.

  
"Norman!!! Norman Bates!! Can you hear me?? Where are you??!!"

  
A couple of officers made their way over to a door from the kitchen. It was locked. "Kick it!" One officer said to the other. The officer kicked the door in and listened to the silence from the room below. It was dark and the officer hesitated. He had seen a lot in his years....He didn't like things coming at him from the shadows. "BPD!!! Hello...is anyone down there?" He shouted. A muffled sound and a clattering of something in the distance. "Down here...he's down here!!!" The officer shouted back to the rest of the house. They both went headfirst into the darkness.

  
_My hope is blood on broken glass_  
_A shattered hole, a scattered past_  
_And I can't wake up cause the darkness won't let go_  
_And I can't wake up cause the darkness is taking hold_  
_Everything is lost_  
_And this nightmare's closing in_  
_Everything is lost_  
_There's a sorrow beneath my skin_  
_This is the end... of me_  
_This is the end of me_

  
\-------

  
_A week later~~_

  
Norma anxiously paced the halls of her home. She had bitten her nails almost to the quick. Alex had filled her in over the week about the events that had happened to her son and his ordeal and his nightmare at the hands of that madman. She felt totally to blame. She had cried so many tears that week. She just wanted him back. To know that he was alive and breathing. She held onto and clung to that hope. He was in the hospital recuperating. He had lost too much blood and had almost died on the operating table. They had to put over 100 stitches in the open gash at his abdomen. Part of his intestines had been exposed and it was a wonder he was still alive to talk about it. He had been allowed to call her the day before. All he could get out was, "I'm coming home."

  
A light snow had fallen over the Bates Motel and Norma smiled wistfully. They would have a white Christmas this year. She had dreamed of her family together and close on that day, and now it looked as if that would not be possible. She didn't know when Norman was arriving at the airport. She was waiting to pick him up, but it was the week before Christmas she didn't know if that would be possible. Alex had started a tentative rebuilding of their relationship but Norma couldn't concern herself with that at the moment. She wanted her son. She needed him more now than ever. Romero took a step back and reassessed his situation. He loved her but he knew this would always be the case. ' _You come around when you're ready.'_ He told her as he hugged her close to him. _'I'll always be here for you._ ' He left her bereft and longing on the front porch.

  
She was looking again out of her bedroom window. It was mid afternoon and a cold, gray day. She had bundled up because the furnace downstairs had been broken. The repair man was to come the following day. It was freezing in her home. She saw a figure at the end of the road approaching. Norma's heart leapt to her throat. She swallowed hard past it. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. The figure was walking slowly, his bag in one hand. His other deferring to his stomach. He walked with a purpose. Norma whimpered, words frozen in her throat. She ran down the stairs taking two at a time. She flung open both doors to the house and stood at the top of the steps. He looked up at her then. He was by the front of the motel. Norma trembled on the stairs, her legs wobbly unable to move. "MOTH....RMAN....!!!" They both shouted at the same time. Norma ran.

  
They met each other at the bottom of the stairs. The stood looking at one another sharing all of their thoughts, feelings, and emotions without speaking a single word. They didn't know who reached for whom first but in the next instance the were both in each other arms. They were both crying hard, tears freezing to their faces, each kissing the salty drops from the other's face. Norman held on to her for dear life. He would never, ever let her go again, and Norma felt the same. She cried into his neck and clung to her son. "I love you...don't leave me...never again....I missed you so much..." the words tumbled forth. The stood in the cold at the bottom of their home. They were warm within each other. The wind blowing their words to the sky. Today was the first day of the rest of their lives.


	19. More than all the little Pearly Shells.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are never dull moments in the Bate's family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, EVERYONE for following me on this journey. It has been a pleasure writing it and I really have surprised myself with this. I hope you all were able to find it a believable little side-track from cannon and the epilogue picks up to where it should be. I'm sorry no happy endings here.... :( but that is their lot in life. 
> 
> SPECIAL THANKS TO: solveariddle. She has been my GREATEST support in writing this. She kept me going and kept me thinking as I was writing. She was a VERY good EMPspiration. Thank you, Freddie!

Epilogue:

  
_Pearly Shells, from the ocean. Shining in the sun,covering up the shore. When I see them My heart tells me that I love you, more than all the little pearly shells. For every grain of sand upon the beach, I got a kiss for you.And I've got more left over, for each star,that twinkles in the blue, Pearly Shells, from the ocean,shining in the sun, covering up the shore, When I see them,My heart tells me that I love you, More than all the little Pearly Shells._

  
Norman opened his eyes. He was staring at the ceiling, in a familiar room. In a familiar place. He smelled a familiar smell. It was intoxicating. He closed his eyes, breathing in her scent...and remembering. He smiled and a tear formed in his eye. He rolled over and snuggled against her. The only rock, the only security, the only true love he had ever known. He wrapped his arms, dressed in a heavy coat and flannel pajamas and woolen gloves around his mother's waist. She was dressed similar with a big scarf knotted around her neck. His wound stretched and he winced against the pain. His breath hitched and he buried his face into the back of his mother's scarf. Home...he was finally home.

  
_He spent his days in the hospital that week with tubes and wires sticking out of him in all directions. He had to have 3 blood transfusions to get back all the blood that he had lost. He was unconscious for most of it and truth be told he felt basically none of it. He was far away in his mind when they found him._

  
_He lay sprawled out on the floor of the basement, she had mostly given up due to the limitations of her host's body. If she knew she was going to die, she wanted to be no where else than smiling at her son as they held onto life's last moments. She was relieved when the police came down the stairs. She didn't leave him the entire time, true to the end, she took his pain as her own._

  
_Norman had come back to himself sometime in the middle of the week in the hospital. His pulse went off the charts and an emergency crash team came in to check his vitals and see why he had fallen into a state of panic. They stabilized him and were confused as to why he needed to be told again that he had just been through an incredible ordeal._

  
_He was healing well and insisted after another day or two when he was well enough to be released so that he may return home and be in the care of his mother and doctors there. The hospital reluctantly agreed. John Hopkins paid for his ticket home and any and all expenses and took full responsibility for what had happened at Lecter's home. They assured him that the Doctor would be locked away for a very long time and would never trouble Norman again. Norman was unsure of that._

_He asked about his horse. He wanted to make sure Mesrour would be well cared for and they assured him that he would be. He went to a fine stable further upstate to be in the company of other horses. Norman smiled at the thought. He was no longer alone._

  
_His plane had touched down the night before and he had stayed at the hotel in town. He planned on catching a cab and getting a ride home to his mother the following day. He told the cab driver to let him out up the street. He wanted to surprise her..._

  
_He saw her at the top of the stairs, and could actually see her glowing with an aura all her own. She was the end of a long journey. All he wanted most in this world with every breath he had left was to hold her one more time. His wound ached but he endured it...for her._

  
"Mother....." He breathed into her hair. He held her hands tighter, pulling her closer, trying to ease the chill from his bones.

  
It was going to be Christmas this week. He hoped things would finally calm down and return to normal. But he knew that with his life and everything that happened with him and to him, it wasn't over. It would never be.


End file.
